Striker Ever After
by Lydia Katerson
Summary: My sequel when going through the TRUE ending of the 1st game. (Obvious spoilers!) After the battle with Asimov, Gunvolt fell momentarily into a coma only to wake up and see that the world fell into anarchy during his unconsciousness. Copen's still alive, but his shield got scavenged by strangers with bad intentions. What will happen when they use the septima within it for evil?
1. Chapter 1

**My first fanfiction posted online and my own sequel to Azure Striker Gunvolt. I want to apologize ahead of time for the long prologue.**

 **Character personalities and details are written under my own impressions, so I understand if you as the reader have contradictions.**

 **Now enjoy (I guess)!**

Gunvolt didn't know what to think. His mind was filled with a lot of questions. His heart was filled with betrayal, anger, and despair. He trusted the one man that made him who he was. The one man that helped him when he was captured. Now... that one man was dead. Asimov was dead. Gunvolt couldn't understand his feelings. They were too jumbled. He felt like screaming at the top of his lungs but at the same time his mouth felt slammed shut. Zeno and Moniqa appeared before Gunvolt just as the elevator reached its bottom in Babel. Zeno and Moniqa looked only a second happy from seeing Gunvolt's safe arrival only to be turned into shock upon seeing Asimov's dead body resting on its knees. Moniqa's face right away starts to pinch up and she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, as she fell to the floor. Zeno was looking from Gunvolt to Asimov and then back to Gunvolt again. He started to demand what had happen but Gunvolt couldn't say anything. He thought that if he opened his mouth to talk he would cry instead and then that would be a lot more mess. Zeno continued to demand Gunvolt for answers but he could only walk forward slowly. Everything happened too fast. Gunvolt couldn't accept all of this. Distraught by his mixed feelings, Gunvolt stumbled and fell toward Zeno. Luckily, Zeno caught him and could only stare at his friend in wonder and a hint of anger. But after Gunvolt wouldn't raise his face to look at Zeno his face slackens with sympathy and he held his friend closer.

Zeno looked over Gunvolt to Moniqa and told her to stand up. She refuses and continues to cry on the floor. Zeno himself was clueless on what to do. Either he would have to bring Gunvolt back to QUILL headquarters, console Moniqa, or at least do something with Asimov's body. Zeno decided to call in the others from QUILL and tell them to handle with Asimov. As for Moniqa he will leave her to cry her woes away. Gunvolt needed somewhere to stay if he wanted answers from him.

News spread fast with their leader, Asimov, found dead. Like Zeno, the QUILL members wanted to know what had happened. Zeno could only tell them that they had to wait as he found a bed for Gunvolt to rest in. The room that Gunvolt was in was well protected so that no one could break in if they were too impatient for answers. Just as Zeno was about to leave something emit a glow behind him. He instantly turned around and saw a girl with light brown hair and transparent blue butterfly wings floating above Gunvolt. "Lumen," Zeno whispered upon seeing her. Lumen nodded and replied, "It's me, Joule." Zeno's face showed confusion and Lumen could understand why. "I have become one with the Muse. And I am now inside of Gunvolt." Zeno digest this information before asking Lumen- Joule, what had happened.

"You gotta tell me everything from the beginning!" Zeno cried. Joule shook her head apologetically.

"I don't think it's my role to tell you," Joule replied. Zeno wanted to ask why not but Joule only floated closer to Gunvolt and disappear. The whole room fell back into darkness. Zeno stare down at his friend, expecting him to wake up but he evidently didn't. Considering that he had to be patient, Zeno left the room without another glance back.

With Sumeragi gone, peace was thought to come after... but it didn't. The people went awry as they wondered what happened to the Sumeragi who supposedly protected them. Sumeragi was considered a government for these people and with it gone everything went into anarchy. Town and cities broke out and there was an uproar on who should lead the people. There was so many contradictions that groups were made. Groups that went with this idea and groups that went with that idea. Nobody could agree with each other. Since the death of Asimov, QUILL has also started to disband. They thought they could stay together and be the new government but none could take the role or none would want to take the role of being the new boss. So the QUILL members left one by one. In only a month QUILL was no more. All that was left was Zeno and Moniqa. Moniqa was almost at the brink of leaving herself. "Without Asimov, QUILL is pointless..." Moniqa said, still depressed from Asimov's death.

"Don't say that Moniqa. Aren't we family?" Zeno asked Moniqa sternly. "Besides, we'll probably get answers if Geeves woke up." Zeno turn his stare toward the room Gunvolt was sleeping in. It seemed like Gunvolt has been in a coma since his fight with Asimov.

"What would you do if GV was actually the culprit behind Asimov's death? What would you?!" Moniqa shouted at Zeno. He could only look down, speechless.

"QUILL said they were going to help the people but they just left..." Sharply, Zeno turned his head back to Moniqa and shouted, "I don't want you to be mixed up with those people! Moniqa, Geeves may need you!" Zeno's harsh tone triggered Moniqa's tears as she sunk to the floor to cry. These days she wasn't holding up so well. Asimov was a fatherly figure for her too. "Dammit..." Zeno cursed under his breath. "Hurry and wake up, man!" Zeno referred to Gunvolt.

Done with Moniqa's crying Zeno decided to step out into the city. He was armed with firearms in case any crazy people were around to convert him. Even from a distance Zeno could see the glow of the city. Not from its light but from another possible fire that broke out downtown. Zeno cursed again and hurried for the city. QUILL had been taking care of the city but it became such a chore. The people were unreasonable and would often attack the QUILL members who tried to help calm their quarrels. It was the last straw when a group of QUILL members went to the city only to be tricked and injured. Some were captured but not long as other members of QUILL helped them out. That's when the members who were involved came to base and announced that they were quitting. That their only goal was to take down Sumeragi, not help the people who discriminated adepts. Zeno gotten more stressed because of all the drama but he held on, knowing that if he kept QUILL alive, Asimov would be alive too.

Zeno reached the city but stayed back quite a bit so he could observe what was happening. Once again, people were burning down cars, burning down stores, burning down ANYTHING just so they could cause an uproar. "Humans can truly be animals, can't they?" A voice said from behind Zeno. Zeno flinched and quickly pivoted and point his gun at whoever it was who spoke. It was a boy. He was covered head to toe in white clothing. In front of him was a shield that was tall as him so shooting wouldn't have done anything. Zeno couldn't quite tell but from the dancing flames of the fires behind him, Zeno could see the boy give a smirk. "It's a shame really. If my father was still alive he would have picked up all of these people in his hands and guide them." The boy sounded melancholy but only a second before saying something else. "But I guess I will be the one who will be guiding them in his place."

"Who are you?" Zeno asked, wary of the boy's proximity. "Shouldn't you be with them, causing trouble and stuff?"

The boy stared at Zeno not amused by his behavior. "I'm not like these people. They are followers. And I'm a leader." The boy stepped closer to Zeno as if he wanted to be heard. "I'm wondering who you are. Your clothes look awfully familiar. It gives me a bad taste to my mouth." These clothes...? Zeno thought and look down at them. Where could he have seen them...? Then Zeno remembered Gunvolt. There was times when Gunvolt would have transmission errors. Could this boy be the cause? When Zeno did connect with Gunvolt sometimes a bit during a battle he seemed like he was in a struggle with someone. It didn't seem like any Sumeragi. It sounded like a boy. Like HIM. Zeno instinctively pulled out his bigger gun and small gun, arming them on both of his hands.

"Okay, I don't know what's up with you, man. But if you meant bad news to Geeves then you mean bad news to me too." Zeno expected as much as the boy hid behind his shield.

"Don't act rashly now. You do see what's in front of me, right? But then again, this is more than just a shield." Right before Zeno's eyes the shield transformed into having an arrow like thing on it. "If you're the last adept I have to kill then that would at least bring back the pride that I have lost during my battles with the Azure Striker." Zeno, scared from being on gunpoint, dropped his two guns and raised his hands to the side of his heads.

"Whoa, dude! I'm not an adept," Zeno lied. "I'm just a normal human being, see? No septimal energy here." The boy only squinted harder at Zeno to make sure.

"Then tell me, why would a 'normal human being' work with the adepts?"

Zeno gulped from the pressure. "Because adepts are not who you think they are. True, there are the few evil ones like Sumeragi. But other than that adepts are just normal as us… human beings."

"Lies!" The boy shouted and Zeno flinched from his sudden loudness. "Adepts are the ones who killed my father. They used him and then killed him like he was just a toy passed its prime."

Zeno almost couldn't let the words out his throat as he stammered, "A-adepts didn't kill your dad. S-Sumeragi did. And now they're gone." The boy hitches up his arrow shield and Zeno's heart thumped faster in his chest. "J-just cool it, alright?! No one would hurt you anymore. I mean, haven't you a-avenged your dad already?" The boy seemed like he didn't notice himself lowering his shield. But by this gesture Zeno feels like the boy was starting to calm down. It may have been a bad move but Zeno tried to make light conversation so he could leave with no problems. "So these people... how come you're not leading them yet?"

It was a bad choice of topic as the boy snap his glare back to Zeno's face. The sudden movement made Zeno jump and sweat bullets. "I can't," the boy said and turned around to face the other way while continuing to talk. "They won't listen." Zeno didn't knew what to do. In this chance he could either escape or try to attack. But attack seemed to be the worse option. He could make a break for it but that might guarantee his death too since the arrow's shot might just reached him before he could run even a meter away. The boy's voice broke his thought as he concluded to say, "That's why I need a hostage." He glared back at Zeno once more. Zeno couldn't help it but he began shaking. "You're coming with me. It's alright. Know that you're doing it for the good of mankind."

* * *

It was a dark building that could be considered abandoned but there was a few appliances here and there that had the vibe of "home." Or if not home then at least "safe." There was not much wreckage around so it proved that it was a good place to hide from the havoc happening in town. Even though Zeno was supposedly held "hostage" he wasn't tied up. "I'm not going to be as desperate as to keep you tied up. I will just have to momentarily trust you in not running away. Otherwise..." The boy made the emphasis by transforming his shield back into the arrow head.

As the boy stoked the fire that sat between them Zeno asked again. "Uh, can I at least know your name?" The boy paused a bit from the question before resuming on making the fire bigger.

"You are in no place to ask for my name. As the hostage you must tell yours first," the boy said.

"Fine," Zeno sighed. "It's Zeno."

"Is it?" Before Zeno could confirm the boy cut him off and continued to talk. "You may call me Copen. Remember it well because this is the only time I'm telling you."

"Right, Copen..." Zeno muttered. "So why do you need me as a hostage? I thought you were one of those 'good guys?'"

"I don't need to answer you," Copen replied as he plop down a huge pot on top of the blazing fire. Zeno was shocked at the cold answer but was more annoyed at the boy's attitude.

"I don't need to sit here and take this. I'm not even tied up so-" Before Zeno could continue to argue Copen cocked a gun at him. Zeno's gun. "Why you..."

"Sit down. I don't want to tell you again." Zeno did as he ordered and he could only continue to sit there as Copen cooked his dinner. Everything was silent from that moment on. The only noise was the crackling of the fire and the boiling of the pot. When it over boiled Copen haul the pot away from the fire. Zeno was too mad to stare at the boy's every move so he bowed his head down, helpless on what to do next. There was always the communicator but Zeno was wondering if he could really receive any help from Moniqa. She seemed broken and fragile that if Zeno called in about what was happening now she might be thrown into the loop. Plus, Gunvolt was the one Zeno was betting on saving him. "Here," Copen said. Zeno looked up to see Copen handing him a teacup. Tea. This guy just prepared him tea? Like this was some normal visit? For some reason that pissed Zeno off and he couldn't stop himself before he reached out and brush aside the teacup. It went flying across the room before breaking on the hard ground. Zeno was shaking once again, part fear and part anger. He didn't know what Copen was going to do next but whether it was yelling or killing him it didn't matter. He rather be dead than be this guy's hostage. And he was Gunvolt's enemy anyways. Zeno braced himself for whatever but what came out of Copen was only an exasperated sigh. "Fine. You don't need to accept the tea." Copen went over to his side of the fire and sat down with his own cup of tea. "Okay, Zeno," Copen said Zeno's name disgustingly. "I want some answers. First, where is the Azure Striker? Is he dead or alive?" He blow on his tea and gulped the whole thing in three counts.

Zeno was at first pondering on how he would answer that question. Should he lie and say that Gunvolt was dead? Or should he at least annoy Copen by saying Gunvolt was alive? Then Zeno remembered what Copen had said earlier to him when he wanted answers. "I don't need to answer you."

Copen stared daggers but he didn't do anything like threaten Zeno as he said, "So he is still alive? I thought so." Zeno cursed at himself for making it obvious. When he didn't answer it was most likely the answer would be "yes." Copen poured himself another cup of tea as he asked another question. "What do you belong to? What does Azure Striker belong to?" Zeno continued to not answer. "Answer me." Zeno stayed silent. Copen once again sighed and got up from his sitting position. He carefully put down his teacup and went over to Zeno. Copen grabbed ahold of Zeno's collar and pull him up from the ground. "You better answer me or I will kill you with your own gun," Copen finally threatened. "It was bad enough with adepts but a human that works with the adepts are almost worse."

Zeno only gave Copen a sly grin as he said, "Go ahead. Then you'll get no answers at all." Copen was shocked at Zeno's retort and could only throw him back on to the ground in response.

"Then I will slowly beat it out of you. I swear, every adept will be demolished and when I do get the last one then I will get humans like you next."

Zeno started laughing. For some reason he felt cocky. Probably because he had a strong reason for Copen not to kill him so he almost felt invincible. "You spout about being a leader for those people who are raising hell in town but I don't know if you're so human yourself to lead them." Zeno could see it. The anger that was reflecting Copen's eyes. His red eye color seemed to darken then glow again only to return back to dark.

"You...!" Copen started and pulled one of Zeno's gun from his back. It was the big one. He pointed it right at Zeno's face and cocked the gun. Zeno was frightened. Was Copen really going to shoot? Maybe Zeno got too carried away and said the wrong thing. Dying this way was not what Zeno had imagined. He always thought he would die a heroic death. Not die as a hostage. And Zeno wanted to at least know what happened to Asimov before he goes. Zeno also realized that dying here would leave Moniqa alone. Sure, there was Gunvolt but he remained to be unconscious. How will Moniqa react to the disappearance of Zeno? Just thinking about it made Zeno lose heart as he understood that Moniqa would be more shattered than she was now. Zeno broke eye contact from the gun in front of him and slowly look down. If he was going to die... then he wants to die quick and painless so that the shame wouldn't creep up into him and kill him first. Copen gasped from the action and yelled at Zeno, "You're not going to fight back? What's wrong with you?" Next thing Zeno felt was a hard smack to his head. From this impact he fell to his side and continue to lay there as his vision blurred and darkened. Something warm was running from his head but Zeno couldn't feel any pain as he blacked out.

* * *

When Gunvolt eyes fluttered open he saw himself in a bare room. QUILL, he thought. I'm back here? Gunvolt slowly sat up and looked around the room some more. IVs rose from his arms and bandages wrapped his abdomen. At first Gunvolt was confused on why he was in bed. Not until a minute later did everything came flooding back in. The defeat of Sumeragi's mastermind, Nova... then the escape with Joule... only to be stopped by Asimov... and be killed by him. No. Gunvolt was brought back because Lumen- no, Joule- entered his body to give him strength... which he used to kill Asimov... After absorbing all of the details back Gunvolt started shuddering and he begun to weep quietly. "Joule... Joule..." Gunvolt called into the room. "Where are you, Joule? Are you here... with me?" As in response the whole room glowed and it took Gunvolt a moment to realize it was coming from him.

"Gunvolt, remember that I will always be a breath away..." He heard a girl voice say. Not just a girl's voice. Joule's voice. Joule flew in front of Gunvolt and greeted him with a smile. "Gunvolt," she said gently. Her appearance was that of Lumen but Gunvolt could tell that she was truly Joule. Her presence felt that way.

"Joule... I'm glad you're-" Gunvolt couldn't finish his sentence as he brushed away his tears.

"It's alright, Gunvolt. I will always be near you," Joule once again reassured. "But I think we need you to rise again. For someone else you care for..." Gunvolt look up to Joule and almost asked her who when the door to his room slid open.

"GV!" Moniqa screamed and lunged for him. She fell short and only reached Gunvolt's side of the bed before she started blubbering, "Zeno! Something happened to Zeno! He's been out and hasn't return yet!" Gunvolt doesn't know how long he's been out but it must not have been long if Moniqa showed no signs of his deep slumber. Gunvolt could only stare at Moniqa lose herself before she got up to grab Gunvolt on the shoulders. "I know you're feeling a lot right now but you need to find Zeno! He's the only left so if he's gone..." Moniqa dropped her hold on Gunvolt and cried into her hands. Gunvolt already understood what Moniqa meant. Asimov was gone... by his own hands but losing someone else that he considered family would really make things worse. A little motivated Gunvolt got up and walked pass Moniqa. She hopefully looked up from her hands at Gunvolt.

"I'll bring him back," Gunvolt begun quietly. Then he looked up in determination as electricity flow through his body. "We can't lose any more people." Moniqa managed to put on a smile as she watched Gunvolt bolt out the door.

"I can help you," Joule whispered into Gunvolt's ears. After she finished her words Gunvolt felt a surge of septimal energy and he glowed with the colors azure and cerulean around him. Gunvolt got outside and saw the city from away. Something was glowing orange from the middle of it. Gunvolt decided to check out that place in case Zeno got himself in that mess. But it was almost reluctant as he went for the city. "No regrets, Gunvolt. You had to do what you had to do. Your family needs you right now so let's help them," Joule encouraged. Family, Gunvolt thought. Ha, Gunvolt agreed to that term before Asimov betrayed him. Now it was only Joule that he could trust. "But what is it that's driving you then? To save Zeno?" Joule said as if she was reading his thoughts. Gunvolt hesitates to answer but Joule answers it herself. "You may doubt him but you still love him. As family. That bond may be scarred but it could still be stitched up." Gunvolt listened to Joule's words and considered them. They sounded true and it seemed to describe what he did feel. It seems like since Joule became part of him she knew how to put his feelings into words.

"Let's go, Joule. Together."

* * *

When Zeno managed to open his eyes he saw that he was at the same place he was at the last time before getting knocked out. The dark building. There, in front of the fire, sat Copen. At first he looked like was staring straight at Zeno but that's when he discovered that his eyes was closed in slumber. Zeno try to sit up but his head throbbed in response and Zeno moaned in pain as he fell back down. Instinctively, Zeno reached up to where his pain was and felt around it. At first he expected his hair to be sticky with his own blood but instead there was bandages wrapped tightly around his head. He must have done this, Zeno thought and look over to Copen. But why? Even though he was the one that stole my consciousness in the first place? Zeno didn't knew what the kid was planning but he was fed up and wanted to just return back to QUILL headquarters. Then he remembered something. Zeno quickly but quietly fumbled around his pockets to retrieve his communicator. Luckily, Copen didn't frisk him. Zeno turned the communicator on and whispered-shouted into it, "Moniqa! I need your help! I'm in serious hot water right now!" Zeno paused himself before he could say anymore. What was Moniqa supposed to do? She couldn't just come here alone. She would get hurt... "Uh... Moniqa? I was kidding... I've got it all under wraps, ha ha..." Zeno whispered. Zeno expected Moniqa to start scolding him on his humor but he heard nothing but... static. Dammit! No transmission! Zeno discovered too late. He huffed and limply drop the communicator. So I can't get out of here, huh? I'm going to be stuck here as a hostage with this sadistic kid. Then Zeno started thinking of Gunvolt. Geeves... I need you, man. There's no better time than now... Then speak of the devil a crash reverberated throughout the area. Zeno, with wide eyes, searched the surrounding darkness for the cause of the noise. Copen jumped awake and started searching the area too. His eyes came to rest on Zeno and he rushed to him.

"What did you do?" Copen demanded and started to grab Zeno's collar again. Before Copen could hold him up to his face a piece of debris fell from above and landed on him. Zeno fell to the floor, released from Copen's grip. The whole building seem to get more torn down that the ceiling was continuously spewing out chunks of stone. Zeno knew he had to get out but when he tries to get up blood rushed to his head and the pain throbbed unbearably enough to make him fall back down. A sound was heard above Zeno and he could feel small sands of the structure running down on him. A piece of debris was going to squish him! Just as Zeno predicted a piece slipped from the ceiling and fell for him. That's it. I'm not going to die heroically. I'm not going to die as a hostage. But I'm going to die from a gacking rock... Zeno quickly thought as he closed his eyes, bracing for his death. Except... it never arrived. Zeno wondered about this until he felt it. The thickness of the air. It was electrifying. Zeno's eyes flew open. "Geeves!" He exclaimed upon seeing Gunvolt standing near him with his Flashfield up. Gunvolt took a glance back and turn to pick up Zeno. "Hey! I'm not your bride or anything!" Zeno protested as Gunvolt dropped his Flashfield and held him that way. Debris was still falling from above but Gunvolt was agile enough to bring both out of the way of danger. It was like he was never bedridden. Zeno was so happy that his friend came to rescue him as he hoped he would. But the happiness only lasted for the time being until they both returned to QUILL headquarters.

When both entered the building Moniqa rushed to Zeno's aid. She set him up on a bed and changed the bandages on his head. Gunvolt stood back as he quietly observed Moniqa's first aid skills. Zeno's head may have been damaged but that didn't stop the questions that swelled up. When Moniqa was finished fixing him up, she got up to leave Zeno to rest. "Geeves..." Zeno started which also stopped Gunvolt from walking away. "I need answers." Zeno stared intently at Gunvolt. Gunvolt swear this was the first time he saw Zeno that way. But even with the serious face Gunvolt was reluctant to give him answers. It was too much work. And too painful remembering. Moniqa also stared at Gunvolt in curosity like she wanted answers herself but was afraid to ask.

"If you want answers, I'll give them to you," Gunvolt said and looked away from both Zeno and Moniqa as he continued to talk. "It's true. I killed Asimov." Zeno knew that was going to be the answer yet he couldn't help but get angry.

"Why..." Zeno shook with anger. "Why did you have to kill Boss Man? You traitor!" The shouting made Zeno's head throb more but he ignored it. Gunvolt didn't say anything to deny it which made Zeno almost jump out of his bed to hit him but Moniqa held him back. "Give me one good jitt of a reason why you had to kill him! We were supposed to restore order after Sumeragi died down. But without Boss Man... without Boss Man... QUILL is ruined!" Zeno couldn't stop ranting. The pain on his head felt like nothing now as his madness covered it up. Gunvolt still didn't give a response to Zeno's outrage.

"Oh be quiet, Zeno! You're being too loud," Moniqa said while trying to push him down in bed. Suddenly the whole room glowed in light. Out from Gunvolt came Joule, her face smiling even with the tension in the air.

"Zeno," Joule begun. "All you have been doing is accusing, Gunvolt. Haven't you ever thought what Gunvolt's perspective may be like?" Zeno stared at Joule with the same expression he had toward Gunvolt. Joule didn't seem to notice as she told Zeno, "Go on."

Zeno was reluctant but he caught himself to know that he was being unfair. With a sigh, Zeno asked, "So... can you explain what happened?"

Gunvolt was quiet at first but he replied, "I killed Asimov because he... he wanted to use QUILL and the satellite from Sumeragi to wipe the whole human existence. Now, it's your choice on whether you want to believe me or not." Zeno was shocked at what he heard and it all sounded so farfetched like a lie.

"Why would Boss Man want to wipe the human race if he was fighting for it the whole time?" Zeno asked in a harsh tone. This all seemed fake. A cover story for his crime.

"He said the humans deserved it. That they were the ones that discriminated adepts so they had to pay for it." Gunvolt sounded more sure than he was earlier. Like he wanted Zeno to believe in his story. But it still sounded farfetched. How could Asimov do something that bad? He was such a good guy, a determined leader that hoped for freedom to all kinds. Adepts and humans. Zeno wanted to deny Gunvolt's explanation but it was quite reasonable. Adepts were discriminated because humans feared them of their power. Because of this Sumeragi was created to "take care" of those adepts. Except they were only turned into weapons and were used. Asimov must have bide his time by acting like he wanted freedom for all when he only wanted freedom for adepts. Zeno's head hurt with the possible truth that clouded his brain. He squeeze his eyes closed.

"The Azure Striker is right. That man you called Asimov... he attacked me and robbed me of my gun. HIs motive was injustice." The voice startled the three as they look toward the entrance of the door. There stood Copen, bleeding all over his white clothing. He leaned to a nearby wall, panting.

"H-how did you get in?" Moniqa questioned, her voice with a hint of fear.

"So you guys are from the group called QUILL, huh? Well, the reason I was able to get in was because security wasn't tight. It seems everything became a down low here since the Sumeragi died." Copen could barely stand up but he managed to continue talking. "Azure Striker. I wanted to see you. And now that I did, you haven't died. Imagine my surprise right now."

Gunvolt stared emotionlessly at him. "What do you want? If it's a fight you want then you're too weak to do anything."

Copen grit his teeth and replied, "It's true. I am, but..." Copen pulled something from behind his back. Zeno's large gun. He positioned it to Gunvolt's head. "I want to at least-" Before Copen could say anymore Gunvolt shot the gun from his hand and it landed a few feet away from him. "No matter," Copen breathed as he pulled out another weapon, Zeno's other gun, and pointed to Gunvolt again. "I'll-" Once again he was cut off as Gunvolt shot the gun from his hand and it went flying away.

"You're making yourself more of a disgrace than you should be. Stop wanting my blood for stupid reasons." This time it was Gunvolt who pointed his gun to Copen. Copen's face darkened and he let go of the wall so he could fall to his knees.

"GV is hurting no one, so it's better off if you stop your predation," Joule backed Gunvolt up. Copen didn't respond as his consciousness slipped away. He fell forward flat on his face. Gunvolt sighed.

"I guess someone else needs some TLC," Gunvolt said to Moniqa.

"R-really?" Moniqa asked, surprised at Gunvolt's generosity. "But he might be dangerous."

"Not really. He doesn't have his other fancy-shmancy gimmick that had Sumeragi's copied attacks. I say he's a normal boy now," Gunvolt explained and fell back to silence. The little bit of conversation made everything seemed back to normal again. Almost. But only momentarily. "I'm off," Gunvolt declared and stepped over Copen's faint body to leave.

"Wait, Geeves!" Zeno called for his friend. Gunvolt actually halted in his steps but he didn't turn around to face him. "L-listen. I guess I could sort of understand why you had to... kill Boss Man. So for the sake of us can you at least stay?"

Gunvolt laughed but it wasn't a hearty one. It sounded mean and curt. "Ha, are you sure you can live to see my face? The possible culprit who might have murdered his own boss?" Zeno felt guilty from accusing Gunvolt. Maybe he assumed because he was desperate for an answer to Asimov's death. But he knew that blaming Gunvolt was stupid. Gunvolt wouldn't have hurt someone unless he had a solid reason to. Hell, Gunvolt wouldn't have hurt the adepts from Sumeragi if he wasn't missioned to do so. He was a strong-willed boy who would only do something that he thought was right. QUILL had a one tracked mind and that was to disperse the Sumeragi group. Gunvolt agreed with their way of thinking and joined, obligated to helping out if it meant killing some adepts to making the remaining adepts free. There was also the exception of QUILL's leader, Asimov, who helped free Gunvolt when he was captured. But when Asimov went against what Gunvolt thought was their primary goal he had to act back because that's what he thought was right. It could be right. Gunvolt doesn't seem to be the type to lie.

With much mixed feelings inside of him, Zeno finally answered. "We need you, Geeves. What's remaining of QUILL needs you."

"Then I'll stick around," Gunvolt said and finally turned back to face Zeno and Moniqa. "For your guys' sake and..." Gunvolt paused a bit before finishing up his sentence. "my sake too."

It was going to be slow to regain back each other's trust but the fact that it's starting was good enough. However, back to the damaged building that Gunvolt destroyed, a group of two came dawdling over to it. The whole building was in crumples and nothing was to be found in the rumble. Well, nothing normal. The two, expecting something like unique trash that may be used for their survival, started digging through the heaps of concrete walls. It was almost pointless to keep on searching but the two felt the need to go on. Even if there was nothing they decided they would sleep here since holes would be dug in the debris and they could use that as a borough to rest in. That's when one of the two finally found something hidden in the dirt. It was white. It was big. It was a shield.

"Look at what I found!" The first stranger shouted to the second one. The second one perked up and ran to the first.

"What is that?" Stranger number two asked.

"Isn't obvious?" The first one said and activated the shield's secret weapon. An arrow. He cackled from the sight of it. "We just hit the jackpot, Xac!" The second one, Xac, still looked confused.

"How so, Zod?" Xac questioned, oblivious of the shield's use. "I know it's a weapon but we can't start uprising with that."

"Not as a shield. Nope. Not as an arrow. Nope. But something else." The first stranger, Zod, replied and hitch the once again shield over his shoulder. "This is what's going to happen..." He explained the plan to Xac and Xac nodded at Zod's every word. Then his eyes widen.

"That's... cool," Xac commented breathlessly. "Can you really do that?"

"Of course. But only if you agree to do it," Zod reminded him. Xac excitingly jumped up and down agreeing to the deal. Zod snickered. "Alright then. It's time a new group arises to take over the people and their world."

Again, sorry for the long prologue!

 **Again, sorry for the long prologue. Other chapters won't be this way. So anyway, please leave a review (if you want to)!**

 **To see the gist of what my OCs look like, check my bio.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the one month delay. I had winter vacation and no internet at home. I need the school's internet to post stuff.**

 **Other than that enjoy!**

Both Moniqa and Gunvolt left the room where Copen was being cared to. After that Moniqa started leading Gunvolt into the kitchen of the facility to offer tea. The whole process of making tea was uncomfortable as Moniqa awkwardly hummed an unfamiliar tune and Gunvolt sitting down at the table being silent. Finding the moment unbearable Moniqa started up by saying, "I'm glad you're all right, GV." Moniqa heard something like a grunt from Gunvolt and she sighed. "Look. I know Zeno said too much but we do need you. Please stay with us. Sure, you left QUILL but that doesn't mean you would personally leave us, right?"

"I already agreed to stay anyways," Gunvolt replied. "But honesty, the whole place is empty. Is it the holiday season or something? Where is everyone? Why does it seem like everything is in ruins?"

Moniqa chuckled at Gunvolt's barrage of questions. "I guess it's our turn to answer you. Okay then." Moniqa turned around with a platter. On that platter was tea. She went over to the table and place a teacup in front of Gunvolt before placing one for herself across from him. She returned the platter to the counter before taking a seat. She blows her tea and sipped it a bit. "No, it's not the holiday season. Everyone in QUILL... left." Moniqa looked away as if it was her fault they left. "They quitted." Gunvolt raised an eyebrow to show her he wanted more explanation. Moniqa took a sip to her tea again and continued, "Everything is in ruins. Since Sumeragi fell the people have been going crazy. With no order around they do whatever they want. Sumeragi did kind of run the world."

"Why didn't you guys do anything about it?" Gunvolt asked and picked up his teacup. Instead of drinking it he looked into the tea. Steam was rising in such a lazy way.

Moniqa answered, "QUILL did but in the end they found out that they were only working for the rights of adepts. Not people. So they left. Now me and Zeno are the only ones to maintain this place."

"For Asimov?" Gunvolt questioned.

Moniqa tried to look Gunvolt in the eyes but he was still staring down at his tea. So she responded slowly, "Yes... for Asimov. But now..." Moniqa stopped talking as soon as she saw Gunvolt placing down his tea and standing up. "GV?"

Gunvolt just stood in place, not responding to Moniqa. His expression was covered in shadow so Moniqa couldn't make out what he was feeling. "So what do you do to kill time here?" Gunvolt finally spoke. He left the kitchen and went out to the front lobby.

" _So he's not ready to talk about Asimov yet,"_ Moniqa thought sympathetically. _"Even though he told us what happened he's not ready to confront those feelings."_ Moniqa put a hand to her chest. _"And so am I..."_

* * *

A week later, Zeno was on his feet again. Things were still awkward with him and Gunvolt but Zeno was still able to crack out a joke to lighten up the mood sometimes. Gunvolt understood the gesture and tried to return back the friendly atmosphere. Finally, when things came down to business...

"Geeves!" Zeno called. Gunvolt came to his attention. "With you up we could now start doing things."

"So you were ready to use me like a newly sharpened pencil?" Gunvolt asked jokingly. Apparently Zeno didn't get it so Gunvolt had to give a small smirk.

"Alright. I want you to come to the city with me. There used to be these big TV screens there but it's been run down. Once we reach the control room of the screens we could hook some wires, use some of your electricity to power it up and... bam. We could send out a message," Zeno explained.

Gunvolt nodded in approval to the plan. "Good job. I'm actually surprised you know what to do."

Zeno blushes a bit and rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, I know. I am pretty smar-"

"I told Zeno all about that before he told you," Moniqa cut into the conversation. Zeno tried to deny it but Gunvolt figured as much.

"What message do you guys want to send out?" Gunvolt asked.

Zeno cleared his throat and said, "Duh, man. We want to tell the people that we'll help restore order to the place so they should calm down and side with us."

"Nice one. Did you come up with that yourself?" Gunvolt smirked.

Before Zeno could argue Moniqa told them to go on before it gets late. Both male agreed and left for the city. It looked ugly beneath the bright sky. The buildings were scarred with marks from fires started before. Cars were turned to the side and glass was shattered. The city was empty which was considered odd. Usually there would be people milling around. Either they were going to ambush or they were asleep from their late night rampages. Gunvolt and Zeno stayed out of plain sight just in case.

When the two spotted something that looked like a big TV they went to the base of it. The door was blocked off by a flipped over car. Gunvolt brought out his gun, ready to shoot the car out of the way. "Wait, Geeves," Zeno told Gunvolt. "If you were to shoot that it would make a lot of noise. Is it worth it to have a bunch of people jump us?"

"We could always fight back," Gunvolt said. "They're just people."

Zeno shakes his head. "Geeves, no. We're not going to hurt them. We're doing this in the first place to save these people."

"I know. I never said I would hurt them. I just meant we could always escape their grip than lay back and take it," Gunvolt replied matter-of-factly.

"R-right. That goes without saying," Zeno responded. He walked closer to the side of the car and leaned on to it. "Help me push this car out of the way."

Gunvolt started to glow and Joule appear from him. "You wanted to be quiet, right? Then by pushing the car wouldn't it make a loud scraping sound? It's better if that car's removed fast. Gunvolt, let's try." Gunvolt agreed and just as his body was about to glow in septimal energy he spotted the face of a kid hiding behind another overturned car nearby.

"Wait, Joule," Gunvolt told her. The septimal energy stopped flowing through his body and Joule appeared above Gunvolt again. "Over there. A kid." The kid noticed Gunvolt's attention and quickly withdrawn his face behind the car. Zeno looked over to where Gunvolt's eyes looked while Gunvolt headed over there. When he looked behind the car the kid was crouched and staring wide eyes at Gunvolt. "Hey, kid. Are you okay?" Gunvolt asked gently. The kid with wide eyes slowly nodded his head.

"What are you doing, man?!" Zeno whisper-shouted next to Gunvolt. "This could be a trap."

"But it isn't if even you came here," Gunvolt pointed out.

"You guys..." the kid said quietly. Gunvolt turned his attention back to the kid and asked him to speak up. "You guys..." the kid started again with a somewhat firmer voice. "You guys are trying to get in there right?"

Gunvolt took a moment before he answered. Zeno tried to stop him from responding. "Don't tell the kid. It's none of his business."

"Yes, we are." Gunvolt ignored what Zeno said.

"Then I can help you, I guess..." the boy replied. Gunvolt raised an eyebrow to that.

"Do you know another way in?" Gunvolt asked, ready to take any lengths.

The kid smiled an almost creepy smile. "Yep. I'll show you." He got up from his crouching position and went toward the car that was in front of the door to the control room. Gunvolt decided to follow and Zeno reluctantly did the same. Once the two was behind the kid he spun around to look at them. He raised both hands out and closed his eyes.

"What's with this kid?" Zeno said, confused on what was happening. Gunvolt stayed silent and observed the kid. Suddenly, Gunvolt felt the ground beneath him disappear. He could only catch a little glimpse of what happened under him before the two fell through the hole formed beneath their feet. Zeno gave a scream and Gunvolt gasped from the suddenness of it. Everything looked black with the occasional flash of yellow. Finally, the two landed on solid ground. Zeno was rubbing his behind as he grumbled, "What just happened...?" Gunvolt scan the area that they were dropped off in and saw that it was filled with monitors and dials. They were in the control room. After realizing that Gunvolt quickly looked up to the ceiling where both fell from. Just in time he caught the gaping wormhole above him. It was only a second later did the wormhole disappeared. "Was that a wormhole?" Zeno questioned. Gunvolt looked back down to find out that Zeno was staring at the ceiling too.

"It was," Gunvolt replied and got up.

"Did that kid do that?" Zeno asked and scratch his head while getting up. "Was he an adept?"

Gunvolt thought about it. "I don't know." Zeno seems to ponder about it too. "Don't get yourself too burnt up about it," Gunvolt told him.

"But another adept... wouldn't that be cool?" Zeno said and stared at Gunvolt with glowing eyes.

"Yes, but... weren't we here for the control room? Get on with it," Gunvolt indignantly said. He didn't know what to feel about this. Either amazed or worried. An adept out here? Doing what? Knowing adepts they wouldn't be living the quiet life. There's bound to be trouble.

Zeno notices Gunvolt's tone of voice. "Fine. I just thought you would be happy to know there's another adept nearby." Zeno then went to work with one of the monitors. Gunvolt was a bit happy but for some reason that kid didn't quite sit well in his mind. He felt like a normal boy yet he had something like septimal energy in him. It was faint but somehow he was still able to make wormholes. And the power of wormholes itself reminded Gunvolt of Merak...

"Damn! The computers are useless. Their screens are shattered," Zeno broke Gunvolt out of his thoughts. Gunvolt look over to Zeno and saw him scanning the area. "This whole place must have broken out in flames and QUILL once tried to douse it. No wonder then." Zeno went on the transmitter. "Hey, Moniqa? Yeah, the computers won't work. Huh? Upstairs?" Zeno scanned around the area again. Gunvolt did too. He realized at the corner was a flight of stairs. "Hold on, we'll check it out." Zeno turned off the transmitter. "So yeah. Moniqa wants us to go upstairs. Come on." Zeno didn't wait as he went for the stairs.

Once upstairs the two noticed it to had the workings like a clock. There were wires running from wall to wall. On one side of the wall was the back of the big screen TV. Zeno stepped forth toward it. There was a small black slot on the side of it and Zeno pressed on it. What ejected was some kind of green chip. Compared to the TV it was small. Something that could get easily lost. "I got it," Zeno told Moniqa through the transmitter. He listen to her explain. After he does he headed back downstairs. Gunvolt was confused on what was happening and followed Zeno down. As soon as he got downstairs Zeno ejected a chip from one of the monitors. "Okay, we're done here," Zeno announced to Gunvolt as he turned off the transmitter. "Since we're going out this time, let's just blast through and hurry back."

Gunvolt welcomed the word for action and used his Cerberus to shoot the door. It locked on which Gunvolt proceeded to use his Flashfield. The door exploded and dust flew about. Both ran through it and hurry toward base. Gunvolt made sure to look back for the kid but saw that no one was around. Whether he was here for trouble or something else Gunvolt wanted to find out soon.

 **Leave a review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long wait. I haven't been motivated to write lately but I'll make sure to try my hardest until I complete the series at least.**

 **Please bear with me.**

 **And to see the gist of what my OC's look like, go to my bio and it should be there.**

 **Alas, enjoy!**

Once the boys went back to QUILL headquarters, they handed the chip over to Moniqa. She went over to the control room of the HQ and started her work. It didn't take long for her to set everything up. "I still got it," Monica said to herself happily. As she said that a window opened up on the screen with a blinking green light at the top right corner. "That means we could access the big screen and go live!"

"Then let's do it," Zeno said and lunged toward the computer eagerly.

"Not so fast," Gunvolt told Zeno and held him back by the shoulder. "I think speaking to a city full of savages is a bad idea."

Zeno looked alarm and a bit confused from Gunvolt's objection. "What do you mean? Weren't you on board with this?"

Gunvolt slowly nods. "Yeah, but weren't we also the ones that brought down their beloved Sumeragi? I say we need more members to back us up in case the people create a riot to bring us down in return."

Zeno was silent as he assess the situation. "Yeah… okay. But who else would want to join us? QUILL is practically abandoned. Unless…" Zeno turned to face Moniqa with expectancy in his eyes. "C'mon, Moniqa, tell the former QUILL members that we have a plan. That would make them come crawling back and beg for forgiveness for leaving us!" Zeno's bright face contrasted with Moniqa's unsure face. She broke her eye contact and nervously rubbed her arm.

"Okay…" Moniqa quietly replied, and put a nearby headpiece on and started going through the contact lists. Zeno seemed really oblivious to Moniqa uncertainty. Gunvolt was kind of confused himself on why Moniqa was acting that way but he just push the thought aside. She must have her reasons. Gunvolt look to Zeno and his happy expression. He was almost bouncing up and down in excitement with the idea of QUILL reforming. Moniqa probably didn't want to disturb the guy's hope yet.

But if the members of QUILL didn't want to come back… if they were done with the whole ordeal of maintaining the people… then who else would help? Besides the sleeping beauty Copen, there was only four active in QUILL: Gunvolt, Zeno, Moniqa, and obviously, Joule. Gunvolt decided to leave the two to the whole "calling all members" business and set off for a training room that was specially built to handle his septima.

Before he could enter the room, Gunvolt saw his body glow and out came Joule. "Why don't you look for that boy? The one that we saw at the city." Gunvolt didn't answer right away so Joule continued. "I know that you've been thinking about him too." It was true. Gunvolt was surprised that there was another adept here in the city. He must have somehow escaped from Sumeragi's grip. But he was also living like a savage.

"You know what? No adept should be left behind. Let's strike," Gunvolt replied to Joule and she smiled in agreement. He went to the front of the building and left wordlessly. " _Moniqa and Zeno must be busy with calling everyone. No need to have their attention,"_ Gunvolt thought to himself.

Once Gunvolt was near the city he cautiously looked at the big screen TV from the corner of a building. There was the hole out in front that Zeno and he created this morning, but there was no one around. Gunvolt figured that if there was going to be an ambush he'll be able to shake it off and come back later. _"But will the kid be alright?"_ Gunvolt questioned in his mind. Gunvolt decided that it was best to find out himself. He slowly prowled toward the area of the busted up control room. When he was near he pointed out his Cerberus to the surrounding areas in case there was anyone around. No one. Gunvolt's eyes quickly locked on to the car that the kid was hiding behind earlier and he cautiously made his way there. He peered around it and saw… that no one was there. _"Of course. Who would want to be a sitting duck out here?"_ Gunvolt thought and face palmed himself.

"Do you hear that?" Joule asked Gunvolt and appeared out from thin air. She moved a little away from Gunvolt toward the busted up control room. "It's from in there!" Gunvolt nodded and slowly made his way back to the busted control room. Everything from the inside looked the same. The computers still looked inaccessible. "Shh, up there," Joule said and pointed upstairs. The place where the big TV was. Despite Joule's warning Gunvolt bolted up there. If some loony was messing with the big screen TV and burnt it up somehow then QUILL wouldn't be able to communicate to the city when the time comes.

When Gunvolt reached the top of the stairs he saw a man in a white coat. It looked dirty and torn so he probably scavenged it or rolled around in junk. The man was tampering with the back of the big screen TV like Gunvolt thought. Because of Gunvolt's rushing footsteps up, the man turned around to look at him with a startled expression. He stared there dazed even though Gunvolt didn't had his Cerberus up to threaten him. "What are you doing?" Gunvolt asked the man. Maybe the man was just poking around at places like any usual savage would do in this city.

"N-nothing of your concern, boy," the man answered. As he said that his hand quickly slipped to his pocket. Gunvolt caught the movement with his eyes and glared back at the man.

"Yeah? Then what are you hiding?" Gunvolt asked and pointed at the hand that just move.

"Hands got cold. What of it?" the man answered instantly and took his hand out of his pocket to do a shrug. "See? Nothing."

Gunvolt was still suspicious. "Me and a certain organization needs this thing," Gunvolt explained and gestured to the big screen TV. "So I think it's time you jet."

"Gunvolt!" Joule exclaimed and appeared from him. She flew toward the man a bit and apologized. "Sorry. What he meant to say is that we need this big screen so we could help the people soon."

"Joule!" Gunvolt called to Joule, worried that she's getting too close to the strange man.

The man looked surprised himself to see an almost holographic beauty in front of him. But he mellowed down and gave a smirk. "Help? How?"

"We're going to form a new government," Joule answered. Gunvolt was too late to tell her not to. The man's eyes seemed to sparkle from hearing this.

"Is that so? That's good news. I want a new government too," the man said. The tone of his voice sent chills down Gunvolt's spine but Joule either ignored it or didn't notice.

"Actually, we would like it if you join-" Joule started but Gunvolt interrupted before she could continue any further.

"No. We're not letting this creep join us," Gunvolt said and stared daggers at the man.

He chuckled softly and said, "Don't be so edgy, blondie." He chuckle a little bit more before answering to Joule. "Sorry, but I don't want to join you."

"Oh, I see…" Joule looked upset but only momentarily. "That's fine. We-"

But before Joule could finish talking the man burst out with, "I don't _need_ to join you! Because I'm going to do the uprising myself!" He laughed manically and Gunvolt ran forward to be by Joule's side. Her face showed stun and a bit of fear from the man's sudden outburst. "Xac!" the man exclaimed and something shifted from the shadows of the corner of the room. Gunvolt turned to where it was and pointed his Cerberus at it. It wasn't until a moment too soon that he felt himself fall through something. A wormhole. It brought him outside of the building.

" _A wormhole? This…"_ Gunvolt looked around and saw the kid that was helping him earlier that morning. He looked forlorn. Like he was reluctant on what he was about to do.

"Why are you back here? Didn't you do what you had to do?" the kid sighed. Gunvolt was going to explain but before he could the kid raised one of his hands up and a wormhole appeared in front of him. In Gunvolt's peripheral view he saw a wormhole open up next to him.

"Watch out!" Joule shouted. Because of her warning, Gunvolt was able to dodge the orange laser that shot out from the wormhole next to him a split second later. He spotted the kid that hid from behind the wormhole he created and shot a bullet at him. The kid was caught in surprise once he was tagged.

Gunvolt held up his hand in preparation of his attack. "Look, kid. I don't want to hurt you. But if you wanna fight then I'm not going to take it lying down. I came out here for you."

"For me?" said the kid, still in a shock expression.

"Yes. To join QUILL… or at least what's left of it. Aren't you an adept? We could work together," Gunvolt tried to reason.

The kid seemed to have sunk in himself when he heard the word adept. "Me? An adept? I would never be one of those monsters."

Gunvolt was struck hard from his words. "Monsters? What? Kid, Sumeragi put a bad name for us but I swear to you that not all adepts are like that. On the other hand, aren't you just being a hypocrite?"

"I am not! I am not an adept! I just got powers of one! Don't lump me up with those freaks!" The kid seemed to flare up the more Gunvolt tried to talk with him. Suddenly, there was a bunch of wormholes surrounding Gunvolt. He was surprised that there could be so much. But even though there was a lot of wormholes gaping at him with a possible attack coming, Gunvolt still tried to reason with the kid.

"Okay. You are not an adept then. But who are you? What's your name? At least give me that."

It seemed like the kid wasn't going to answer. Rather, he looked like he was huffing in pain. Like using his septima was tiring him out. But the kid did answer. He said meekly, "Xac."

"Alright, _Xac_. You look like you're in pain. Why don't you split from that weirdo and come with me? I can help you," Gunvolt offered and held out his hand in offering.

But things got worse. Xac's eyes turned mean and angry. He shouted at Gunvolt, "That 'weirdo' is my dad!" Orange septimal energy flowed around his body and some of it shot up to a wormhole above him. Just like what Gunvolt speculated, the surrounding wormholes glowed with the orange septima and huge lasers flew at him. Luckily, Gunvolt anticipated that this would happen. The kid was practically a ticking time bomb with issues. Of course Gunvolt would be on his toes. With Joule's help Gunvolt was able to jump and fly away to safety on top of a building that was still standing. The whole area glowed and shook as if the city was in a violent earthquake. Debris flew everywhere from the damage the lasers was doing on the pavement. Gunvolt even had to look away for fear he was going to become blind. Either from the explosive light or from the junk flying through the air.

The sound wasn't pleasant either. It was like wind rushing through the ears only with a bunch of drums crashing down a flight of stairs. In shorter terms, it was unbearable. As it worsen, the shaking got even more violent. The building that Gunvolt was standing on collapsed from the pressure. Gunvolt once again leap and flew away from the range of the explosion. He thought that he could hear terrified screaming in the background. A bunch of screaming. _"Gack! The people!"_ Gunvolt thought. But it was too late to go back as Gunvolt escaped from the scene and the city is swallowed up in orange light.

 **And please leave a review! I might have gotten rusty on the personalities but I tried my best. (Oh well...)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I know I am slow as heck when it comes to making another chapter... I've just been feeling unmotivated.**

 **So the second game of Gunvolt is coming out, but of course I will still continue my own sequel. (And hopefully finish it.)**

 **Nonetheless, enjoy!**

Gunvolt rushed back to the HQ. When he got inside he saw Zeno and Moniqa staring back at him in horror. "What the gack did you do?" Zeno asked Gunvolt with an accusing tone.

"Thanks for worrying about me," Gunvolt shoot back, but regretted it instantly. He sunk back knowing what just happened back at the city. _"Does this make me a murderer for leaving those people to die?"_ Gunvolt thought to himself. But it was on a whim that made him backtrack out of there. It wasn't like he was considering whether to save the people or not. Still...

"We heard a loud explosion and then everything started to shake!" Moniqa told Gunvolt. "We were wondering if it was just you in the training room, but then we noticed that you weren't even around. GV, tell us what happened. What were you doing outside of base?"

Gunvolt sighed, "Am I being interrogated again? Fine. If you want to hear it then I'll let the cat out of the bag." Gunvolt stared right at Zeno and continued. "I went to the city to recruit that kid we saw earlier this morning. With septima."

"That kid...? Ha! I knew you were onto him!" Zeno said and broke out in a smile. He seemed more excited than Gunvolt to know there was another adept around. "So? What did you do?"

"I went to the control building of that big screen TV to find him. Unfortunately, there was already a man there poking around it. I confronted him and then he made the kid attack me."

"He attacked you?"

"Yes. With the very same wormhole septima that helped us inside."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Moniqa broke in. "A kid? With septimal powers? How could I have not heard of this?" She turned to Zeno for answers. He rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"I was going to tell you... eventually," Zeno answered in poor excuse. Moniqa sighed and turned her attention back to Gunvolt.

"No worries. Tell me about it later. I get the gist that there is another adept in the city. So the kid attack you and?"

"I tried bringing him to our side. You know, for extra footing in our team. He freaked, though, and blasted at me from multiple wormholes," Gunvolt explained.

"Multiple? Doesn't that take a lot of septimal energy?" Zeno asked.

"The kid looked tuckered out but he managed to pull though from the little gas he had left. I gotta say, I'm impressed."

"There's no time to be impressed. That explosion could have injured the thousands of people! GV! Did you do something about them?" Moniqa asked. Gunvolt averted his eyes and stayed silent. That gave Moniqa the answer she did NOT wanted to hear. "GV! I thought you would..."

"Moniqa, he probably didn't had the time to think," Zeno defended.

"But now-"

"Why don't we check on the city then?" Zeno looked back between the distancing Gunvolt and fuming Moniqa. "If we go now, we might be able to save some if not all the people from further injury."

"Yeah, I agree. I feel... bad for leaving those people behind. But..." Everyone turned their attention to Joule who appeared. Her face showed utter disappointment.

"No need to feel bad for anything," Zeno reassured and walked up to Gunvolt to rest a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad that you two are still alive at least." So the two boys left for the city... AGAIN. Moniqa stayed back, of course. She didn't wish the boys good luck but Gunvolt could get why she was like that. "Man, you and Moniqa arguing... it brings back good memories," Zeno said as they made their way to the city.

"Good memories?" Gunvolt questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Remember how I always save your butt when she starts scolding you? Just did, so be grateful!"

Gunvolt was down in the dumps but Zeno bringing up those memories made Gunvolt less tense. He faintly smiles. "Yeah. I remember. But that's not going to stop my receiving end of the cold shoulder."

"Just be patient with her," Zeno said and tapped his temple a few times. "She just need some time alone to look back on her actions and then realizing your way of thinking before she apologizes."

"She's a sister like that," Gunvolt said without thinking. He realized what he blurted and blushed a little from the awkwardness. Zeno, Moniqa, and Gunvolt thought each other as family. No one actually said it out loud to each other but it was mutual understanding. Gunvolt expected a laugh from Zeno because of his embarrassed face, but he just smirked and turn ahead to look at the city.

Or what's left of it.

The city wasn't utopia before the explosion but it was a lot more structured than what they saw before them now. It was like war broke out. All buildings seemed to have collapsed. Even being near the city now, there was dust particles floating in the air so it was hard to see. "No... Hell no..." Zeno gasped and rushed somewhere. Gunvolt knew exactly what he was looking for. When they both arrived to their destination. The control building with all the monitors and big screen TV... it was destroyed. Complete trash like the rest of the city. "Dammit!" Zeno cursed and smash the floor with his fist. Gunvolt could only stand back in guilt.

"Help..."

Gunvolt turned to where he heard that voice. Just as he did, he heard rubble being moved. "Help..." the voice called again weakly. Gunvolt went toward the direction of where the voice was being heard. There was a chunk of a broken car in this one area... and it was slightly moving! Gunvolt pulled out Cerberus and shot at the chunk to tag it once before using his Flashfield to exterminate the piece. Underneath was a couple of people. One was on top of another which looked unconscious. The conscious one looked up at Gunvolt and relief filled his eyes. "Th-thank... thank god! Please... you must help my daughter."

"Don't worry, sir. We'll help you out. Zeno!" Gunvolt called his friend. Zeno jolted from the sound of Gunvolt's voice and looked up to spot the man and his daughter. No further words we needed to explain what was to be done. Zeno went over and helped the man up and away from his daughter. Gunvolt bend down to hold her in his arms. When he did he started to hear more cries of help. Gunvolt looks to Zeno and he nod back in response.

Zeno pulled out his communicator and said into it, "Calling Moniqa. Yeah. Actually, we need your help. Yeah. Come out here and make sure to bring..." It was like the whole city was waking up. People were moaning in pain and calling for help.

 _"Is this all of the people? Did they somehow made it alive?"_ Gunvolt thought, surprised. _"Or did Xac... hold back on his attack?"_ Gunvolt thought back to the attack and shook his head. _"I don't even know if that's called 'holding back.' The city is in dumps, and that explosion and earthquake was just crazy."_

"Geeves! Moniqa told us to help out as much people as we can before she arrive. Let's go over here!" Zeno shouted. He laid the man down gently, told him to stay put, and moved on to another area of the city. Gunvolt dropped off the man's daughter near him and followed after Zeno.

Since the HQ building of QUILL was meant to hold a large amount of people, there was enough room to shelter the injured. Like roaches, Gunvolt thought that there was a lot of people hiding in around the nooks and cranny of the now fallen city but there was actually a few. Well, alive anyways. Gunvolt and Zeno assisted as much as they could before it became dark. Moniqa rushed to aid everyone to the best of her abilities. It was no easy task considering she is only one person. Gunvolt, trained mostly for combat, didn't know what to do to aid so he just stood by and wait as Moniqa ordered him around as a third hand. It was the same for Zeno. Pretty soon and finally, all was attended for. Gunvolt counted and there was thirty-two civilians currently in care in the HQ.

Moniqa sat down at the kitchen chair with a sigh. "Okay… a moment's rest… they're all sleeping right now-" before she could even finish her thought a cry came out somewhere in the building.

"You hope," Zeno said and Moniqa gets up wordlessly to tend to the wailing. Zeno shook his head and placed his hands on the kitchen table. "I'm not complaining but… there's going to be a lot of mouths to feed from now on."

Gunvolt glanced at Zeno from the side of his eyes and whispered back, "We're not necessarily a homeless shelter either…"

"Buck up, you two," said a voice. It was Joule. She appeared out from Gunvolt. "What's with the selfish talk?" Joule pouted with puffed up cheeks.

Zeno turned to face Joule and snapped, "I'm just stressed, okay? Three people taking care of more than thirty people? This kind of situation brings me back to those that left QUILL because they no longer follow it. It shouldn't just be our job, but their job as well."

"Chill," Gunvolt mumbled. Zeno glared back at him and walked out of the kitchen silently. "Where are you going?"

"There's this thing called sleep. I need some of it. And you too. We need it if we're going to keep this up," Zeno answered without looking back. He resumed walking away. Gunvolt was kind of perplexed on the way Zeno acted. The guy was usually easygoing and a comic relief. But it seems like he's been fed up lately. And easily aggravated.

"At least for now. He'll spring back to himself soon," Joule said, somehow knowing what Gunvolt was mauling over. Then Joule suggested they rest themselves. "Moniqa probably has it under control. Plus, I don't want you falling over from exhaustion, Gunvolt." Gunvolt agreed to Joule's words and went into a vacant room to sleep.

Next morning, Gunvolt woke up early for some reason. He had the feeling that Moniqa tirelessly worked herself to the bone last night. Once he entered the kitchen, he was right. She was sitting down at the kitchen table with her head down. She probably heard Gunvolt enter the room and sat up with a shocked expression. "Gunvolt…" she started and rubbed her eyes.

"Were you down here all night?" Gunvolt asked and stood by her.

"Yes… I thought the people would call for me so I stayed here just in case," Moniqa explained and held her head like she was having a headache. Gunvolt frowned at her, knowing how unhealthy that was. Moniqa started to stand and Gunvolt held on to her.

"Let me help you to bed. I'll take care of anyone who cries for help here," Gunvolt told Moniqa. She stared at him with a worried look. Probably because she knows Gunvolt wasn't very skillful at aiding.

"You can help. But with something else," she said. She broke away from Gunvolt and went to the computer room. Gunvolt followed. "Not only was I waiting to help aid the people but I also searched up where we could get more food. With only three of us, QUILL's supply of food would have hold us for a year. But now that we have a lot of people sheltered here…"

"You want me to stock up?" Gunvolt finished Moniqa's sentence. She nods slowly to confirm it.

"There's this city that's way beyond here. Miles. It could take days. I need to stay here to tend to the people and Zeno… well… let's say I need him as an extra hand. Plus, I think you would be able to reach the city faster without him."

"What's the city called?"

"EctoWav City. Actually… I think it could still be standing. I believe they have a strong-willed mayor there that helps control the community from anarchy. So... can you please do it, Gunvolt?"

"Sure," Gunvolt agreed and shrugged. "To me, it's like picking up groceries at the local market."

For the first time in a while she smiled warmly. "Thanks, Gunvolt. Actually, I knew you were going to agree to it so I packed some stuff for you." Behind a desk, Moniqa pulled out a hiker's backpack. It clanged with whatever stuff she put in there.

"Uh… I think that would just slow me down," Gunvolt pointed out.

Moniqa shook her head. "What other way is there to keep your stomach full?" Gunvolt had no idea so he scratched his head.

"Maybe I could help?" Gunvolt and Moniqa stared over at the entrance of the computer room and there stood Copen. He barely stumbled as he walked closer to them.

"Copen," Moniqa said in surprised. "You're up?"

Copen, ignoring Moniqa's question turned to face Gunvolt and said, "All is almost loss here. To be honest, my father would be disappointed at me for not taking care of the people better. So I think I should start taking action." Gunvolt's face stayed expressionless. "Look, I know we had our difficulties. Don't get me wrong, though. We're not friends. We're just temporarily teammates." Gunvolt switched his focus on Moniqa. "I can't fully trust you with the people but you guys probably have a bit of human inside to actually shelter them here." Back to Gunvolt. "So what's your answer?"

"You talk big, kid," Gunvolt commented. "I would tell you to go yourself if you can't trust us, but I do need an errand boy to carry the bag."

"Fine," Copen replied and Gunvolt was kind of surprised he agreed to carry the stuff. "It could be because I'm stronger than you that I could carry such a load."

"No. That's not it." Gunvolt starts to tense. Copen was getting on his nerves. He was cocky as ever even though he was lying half dead in bed earlier.

Moniqa sensed Gunvolt's growing aggression and break the tension before both boys changed their minds. "Then you two better start going! I think there should be enough supplies in the bag to help you in whatever. Food, water, first aid…" Gunvolt got the message and walked on ahead.

Soon the two were outside. Gunvolt was standing just ahead of Copen, looking at the rising sun from the horizon. The breeze picked up and ruffled his hair. Once he was done contemplating, Gunvolt peered at Copen and said, "Make sure to keep up."

 **I'm probably making Copen act too edgy. I don't know how he's suppose to act otherwise when teaming with his "enemies" so I guess this will have to do. He might warm up a bit as he travels with Gunvolt.**

 **By the way, thanks for reading this far! Please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yep. Here's another chapter. Enjoy!**

"What is wrong with you?" Zod screamed at Xac and shoved him to the dirty ground. Xac didn't fight back and took his punishment of Zod kicking at him. "You could have killed us both!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Xac pleaded. It was just a few hard kicks before Zod realized what he was doing and stopped.

"Just... learn to control yourself next time. I guess I should give you some slack for bringing us out of there as the whole city was blowing up." Zod stuck out his hand out for Xac. "Get up." Xac gingerly reaches for Zod's hand and grasps it. After pulling Xac to his feet, Zod observed their surroundings. "I don't know where the hell we are now." Zod spotted a banged up car lying on its roof and walked toward it. He scavenge its content and found some useful stuff. "A compass. Good. And a map! It seems like someone was thinking of traveling but bailed."

"Why?" Xac questioned. He meant to ask why the person just left their stuff there but couldn't before Zod scoffed at him.

"Yeah. If my car flipped over I would stay there sitting and trying to drive it." Xac hears his sarcasm and shuts up. Zod starts rummaging through the flipped car again. "Well look at that. This thing still has gas in it," Zod said and turned to look at the boy. Xac knew what he wanted and walked toward the car. With a grunt, he pushed it. The car didn't tip. He tried again. It still barely tipped over. Already impatient, Zod told him, "Use your septima, stupid."

"O... okay," Xac breathed. His body started to glow in brown light. It wasn't long, though, before he stop glowing and leaned against the banged car. "I can't. Something's wrong... I'm tired." Xac said and started talking more deep breaths.

Zod sighed. "Fine. We could rest here." He sat down and look at the map in his hands. "Hmm, there's a town close to here if we continue north." Xac didn't reply. Instead, he laid down on the ground and curled up into a ball. A small snore followed soon after. Zod continued looking at the map, disappointed that they couldn't keep moving.

When the shield was first found, Zod and Xac made sure to find a place to dwell at real quick before other scavagers came around. Zod tested the shield and saw that it had a collection of septima in it. But rather than keeping the septima in the shield Zod wanted to convert it into something else. As a former biologist, he made the septima into a substance by melting the weapon part of the shield. Once all that complicated stuff was done, Zod poured the substance into a syringe, let it cool, and under the consent of Xac injected it into him. Xac howled in anguish. The substance was clearly hard to take in. As the septima flow through Xac's blood he had a fever and Zod had to tend to him for a bit. The boy was always weak so that's why Zod consider giving him the septima. Zod would have injected it to himself but was afraid that it wouldn't turn out well. There was the fever which is a side effect. What other side effects would there be? Zod decided to wait and observe before he injected a dose into himself. Xac doesn't know that Zod has an extra ounce of the substance. That's good too so he could just use Xac to do whatever. The boy was desperate enough to do anything for attention.

Xac stirred a bit and Zod looks up from the map to him. He didn't know if he dozed off too or not but he didn't wonder any longer as he saw something else. The blondie... with some else trailing behind him. Zod snapped quickly to the side of the car to prevent himself from being seen. Blondie literally flashed by. The other one behind him wasn't too slow so he was able to catch up. As Zod watched Blondie, he was amazed at his speed and ease of movement. With that speed, Zod would use Xac to carry him _and_ run him to places. Then he had an idea. Maybe if he stole some blood from Blondie he could convert it into another substance. "Xac! Xac!" Zod whisper-shouted to Xac so he could wake up. The boy's eyes fluttered awake and he stared back in wonder. "I have a plan," Zod said immediately. "Remember that blond we saw back there? Well I see him again, and I have something I want you to do."

* * *

Everything was flat out here as long as the eye could see. As Gunvolt sped by, he couldn't help but get bored. Even with his speed, he won't be able to get to EctoWav City easily. The place was miles away. Practically on the other side of the map. But it was good to get out and do something. Moniqa was caring to the people and Zeno was probably helping. Gunvolt wanted to make himself useful too. He saw a car ahead of him and leaped over it easily. He turned around to see Copen do the same. Seeing that Gunvolt stopped, Copen stopped too and stare back at him with a blank expression. "What's wrong? Tired? Didn't know you could feel."

"You talking to me?" Gunvolt asked in a sarcastic tone.

Copen didn't answer. He turned to the sky and said, "I think it's past noon."

"What? Are you hungry?" Gunvolt continued to tease. Copen still didn't give a reply to Gunvolt. In bad timing, Gunvolt's stomach growled. It couldn't be helped either way. He skipped breakfast and ran for some time until now.

"Gunvolt, you're going to fall over if you don't eat something now," Joule told him. She didn't appear but must have spoken in his head. Gunvolt looked closely at Copen's face to see if he was hungry too. It was hard to read as he still continued to stare at the sky. Gunvolt wondered if Copen was thinking about something but knew he wouldn't get a reply or would get brushed off if he asked. Before his stomach could growl again, Gunvolt plopped down on the ground and said, "Well, a stomach can't fill itself." Copen didn't seem to have heard him at first but wordlessly he turn to where Gunvolt was without staring at him and pulled the pack off his back. It gave a low thud as it hit the floor. Copen pulled out a pot, two soup cans, and an opener. A small stove was also pulled out. _"What?"_ Gunvolt questioned in his mind as saw the small stove. _"How are we supposed to...?"_ Then he realized what the solution was for powering up the small stove. Even though he figure out that was what he was supposed to do, Gunvolt pinched onto the metal part of the plug indignantly. "My septima is not part of an appliance..." he complained. Nonetheless, he gave a small charge and the small stove started to get warm. Copen placed the pot on top and started to open a can with the opener. Suddenly, a loud clanging of sound could be heard around the plain. Gunvolt whipped his head around to spot the noise and saw... what?

Mutated cars running at him. They had legs that stretched of metal and axles. Some skated on their wheels like roller blades. And they were all coming at him! There was bunch coming from all sides. Gunvolt jumped up and switched to Orochi. With Orochi, he could shoot out multiple bullets around him so it would likely help him tag the cars. Gunvolt shot Orochi and a small machine appeared and shot around him. The cars were tagged and Gunvolt barely caught them with the FlashField before they trashed his campsite and Copen. But some cars twitched forward slightly. Since the tag was locked-on once, it didn't give the FlashField much energy to attach itself to the cars. One car managed to roar pass even with the FlashField zapping at it. It torpedoed toward Gunvolt but before it could crash, it exploded. Gunvolt was stun at what just happened. Explosions started going off around him. Gunvolt cautiously dropped his FlashField and looked around. The cars were blasted off but they certainly weren't down. But the explosions... where were they coming from? Gunvolt realized who else it could be. Copen. He turned to see him and saw that a rocket launcher was cocked on his shoulder. Plus, he held a grenade with his other hand. Copen spotted Gunvolt staring and said, "What are you gawking at? We're not done yet. You take that end while I take this one." He jabbed a thumb at the group of cars behind himself.

Gunvolt was glad that Copen was actually helping him (for now) and pulled out Vasuki. He ran up to the Car #1 and shot at it. The Vasuki shot another bullet to Car #2. Gunvolt shot again to make the tag stronger on the two cars and released his FlashField. They were electrocuted but a couple more cars charged at him. As they near, Gunvolt purposely jumped out of the way and they rammed each other. "Just like bulls," Gunvolt thought. He ran forward and use the rammed cars as a board to jump from. In a quick dash he plunged through Car #1 easily. It was weak from shock anyways. Gunvolt made sure to go through where he thought the car's heart was. He must have been spot on because the car went limp after Gunvolt passed through. He made sure to jump out of the way before it fell on top of him. Car #2 rolled toward him and gave a swing from its metal hand. Gunvolt flipped backwards to dodge it while tagging it. He thought Cars #3 and #4 were still hurt from ramming together but one of them took a swing at him while he was distracted from dodging from Car #2's attack. Gunvolt skidded from the blow but manage to stay up in the end. The pound from the metal was certainly painful. It was like cracking skulls with another. But Gunvolt knew he couldn't stay down or he will get run over.

Aiming to at least kill another one to get it out of the way, Gunvolt pulled out Cerberus and tagged Car #2 three times. He released his FlashField and the car flinched in pain. It tried to move forward but couldn't. Its companions ran toward Gunvolt in attempt to save their friend but it was too late as Car #2 exploded behind them. Car #3 and #4 recoiled from the blow and flew toward Gunvolt. He jumped up to dodge their now skidding bodies and equipped Technos. He shot at them once and FlashField. They were only tagged once so they were still able to get up and move toward Gunvolt slowly. Gunvolt thought he could get a little creative and stopped his Flashfield. Instantly, the cars lunged at him with a fist drawn. Gunvolt dodged and pulled Cerberus out again. He shot at Car #4's head and FlashField. It stayed down and Car #3 threw a punch again. Gunvolt bolted to get out of the way and ran to Car #4. He gave a full body kick to Car #4's head and it broke off. He drop his Flashfield and jumped into Car #4 neck. There is the wheel. Gunvolt took it into his hands, recharged himself, and started up his Flashfield again. The whole machine came back alive. Only this time, Gunvolt was in control.

Car #3 turned around to face Gunvolt but instead received a metal fist to its face. Repeatedly, Car #3 was smack to the face like a boxer in a one sided battle. The loser side. Not only was his face beaten up but his right arm came off from Gunvolt's chop and his left leg broke off from Gunvolt's sweep. Gunvolt saw that it was barely standing and is about to fall over. Knowing that Car #3 would die from the fall, Gunvolt decided to finish it off himself. He gave a spinning uppercut and Car #3's head flew off while its body crashed down on the ground. Before Gunvolt could celebrate his victory, the dead car exploded and threw Gunvolt off his metal body. Not a moment later Car #4's body exploded. The explosions shook the air and Gunvolt could feel the heat coming off from them. "Gunvolt!" Joule cried and carried him a fair distance away from the burning metal bodies. Gunvolt stared back up at Joule and chuckled.

"I'm fine. Whew..." He sat up to look at the fire. Just then he heard clapping. He looked to where the sound was coming from and saw...

"Good job, Blondie! I expected as much," the weird dude with a tattered coat said, clapping.

"You built those?" Gunvolt questioned angrily. "How-"

"He did," the sly grinning man said and Gunvolt noticed Xac standing beside him. Gunvolt started to question the man again but he said, "I don't know. It's his septima."

"His septima...?" Gunvolt said unbelieved. He thought Xac's septima was wormholes.

"Yep. Even now... Xac!" The man pointed at the sky like in some kind of summoning stance. Gunvolt was confused until he saw Xac glowing a purple color. The energy surrounding him was familiar to Elise's... Just then, Gunvolt heard some loud noises behind him. He whipped his head around quickly and saw... the two burning corpse of the cars standing back up! The power of revival! That was Elise's septima. Now Xac was bringing them back alive.

Gunvolt turned back to the two and urgently asked quickly, "Did you do what I think you did? Resurrection...?"

"Resurrection?" the man said and his eyes seem to glow in many colors. "So that's what it is. I thought it was the power to bring useless trash to life."

"You-" Gunvolt started and shot a bullet at the man. He pulled up a shield to block and the bullet bounced off. Gunvolt's eyes went wide. "That shield-"

"Yep. Because of it, me and Xac are going to rule the world." the man laughed out loud and Gunvolt lunged at him. He seemed to have predicted Gunvolt was going to try to jump him so he pulled out a homemade smoke bomb and threw it to the floor. Gunvolt expected to still catch the lunatic since he was just standing in place but didn't. When the smoke clear, they were gone. Gunvolt was so distracted with the man and Xac that he didn't notice the two burning mutated cars running at him. They crashed him and Gunvolt skidded across the ground. He was caught on fire but fortunately from rolling across flat ground he was able to douse out.

Gunvolt lifted up his head with gritted teeth. "It's like they put themselves back together..." Gunvolt thought. The two flaming cars were running at him again. As they neared and Gunvolt struggled to get back up a small explosion appeared at the cars feet. They stopped momentarily from the attack. Copen appear into the fray and shot a few bullets from the guns in both his hands. They seem to do no damage to the flaming cars. They got aggravated though. Car #3 swung its fist toward Copen and it detached which made the fist fly at Copen. It barely missed him before exploding into flames. Car #4 started for Copen but he threw a grenade at its feet to stop it from proceeding.

"Make that septima of yours useful," Copen said without facing Gunvolt.

"Your Flashfield, Gunvolt!" Joule told Gunvolt. "Copen must have tagged the machines!" Gunvolt understood what he must do and released his FlashField. It connected to the two cars. Gunvolt almost thought they wouldn't flinch in pain. They didn't. They barreled toward Copen. He dodged the first one but the second hit him head on. He flew back but didn't skidded much, which left his white cloak burning. Both stood over him and reeled back their fists. Copen stare back at them with a grimace. They punched. But Copen did a backward somersault and brought out a grenade. The cars were going to throw another attack at him but they froze as if in error. Gunvolt's septima finally got to them.

Copen continues to back away as he screamed, "Cover!" and threw the grenade. Once it touched the fire emitting from the two cars it exploded. Copen's body flew forward from the explosion. Gunvolt too. Heat surrounding him and the scorch on his back burned even more. It was like he was in slow motion as he blasted through the air. Finally, he landed on the floor but continue to roll in momentum. Small pieces of hot metal pelted him. They didn't lay long on his body since he was still rolling. Finally, he stopped, laying on his stomach. Everything ache and his back still burned. The air was still hot too. Mixing fire and bomb only makes things deadlier.

Gunvolt doesn't know how long he lie there but when he came to he noticed the surrounding area looking red and orange from flames. "Gunvolt! I knew you wouldn't give up..." Joule cried. She was at his side, looking down with tears dripping down her face.

"Joule..." Gunvolt croaked. To stop Joule from crying he slowly sat up to show her he was fine. "You're with me, so of course I'll be fine." Joule smiles behind her tears. Gunvolt was glad she worried about him but... he wondered where Copen was. The air was in a heatwave so he couldn't detect Copen anywhere. He helped in battle and Gunvolt was grateful for that.

Eventually, the air cleared. Gunvolt saw Copen. He was also looking around in a daze like he just woke up. He saw Gunvolt and got up to walk but stumbled. Gunvolt thought he was going to check up on him but he was walking away instead. "Hey," Gunvolt called but Copen didn't stop. "Hey!" Gunvolt called again. He got up himself. _"I wait for him and get the cold shoulder."_ Gunvolt thought bitterly. Gunvolt pursue after Copen silently. The two walked until they reached their campsite. The pot was turned upside and the can that was being opened spilled its content through the small gap it had. Copen reached for the backpack and then pulled out the first-aid. He took care of himself, biting the tape off when he had enough. When Gunvolt approached closer Copen threw him the first-aid. Gunvolt didn't have the skills of a medic but he does know the basics of first-aid. "Uh, thanks for the help," Gunvolt told Copen.

Copen glumly sat. His white cloak was charred off at parts that made it looked uncomfortable. "You must be mistaken. I would have left you abominations to kill each other but you were already down so the match would have been one sided. I don't want nearby towns suffering just because you failed to stand up."

"If you hate me so much you would have let me die before killing those pieces of scrap," Gunvolt mumbled. Copen either didn't hear or he didn't bother to answer. The air between the two was tense as they sat in silence. So much for a little victory party for their somewhat teamwork.

 **That's it for now. I don't know how to write battle scenes so I tried my best. Please leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

After taking the time to let themselves heal and ingesting pain pills they found in the backpack, Gunvolt and Copen resumed their journey. It was quiet obviously. Apparently, Copen was being stubborn with his despise for adepts. Gunvolt didn't care. He was supposed to be an errand boy anyways, but sometimes Gunvolt wondered why Copen haven't just kill him already. Of course, he would fight back and kill him if that's how it was going to turn out.

In the distance, a town could be seen. Gunvolt scrutinized it from afar and saw that it was almost in the same condition as the city near QUILL's base but obviously still standing. The streets were littered and cars laid on their side like there was a riot. Gunvolt and Copen stood in the middle of the town and looked around, hoping to spot anyone. Copen raised a gun to the air and shot it. The sound was loud in the silent town. Gunvolt asked Copen why he fired and Copen told him it would help them see if there was any people around. If there was, surely there would have been a sound as some sort of stir. There was none though. Gunvolt wanted to see if the people were alright so he tour the town. Copen split up from him to do the same thing.

Up alley ways and into buildings, Gunvolt searched for any sign of life. There was none. The town was good as empty. Just then he heard a buzzing sound and noticed that it was his communicator. Gunvolt pulled it out and called into it, "Gunvolt here."

"GV, I'm glad you're okay! Where are you?" Moniqa's voice rang out from the other end.

Gunvolt observed his surroundings but couldn't find any clue of the town's name. "A town. But not too close to EctoWav," Gunvolt answered.

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to reach the city that quickly," Moniqa replied. "So how's Copen? Is he behaving himself?"

Gunvolt shrugged. He realized that Moniqa wouldn't be able to see that so he said, "I guess. He's not especially a butler either." Moniqa laughed and Gunvolt smiled a bit from her cheerfulness.

"Okay. Just wanted to check up with you. Don't kill each other over there. See ya," Moniqa said and hung up. Gunvolt put his communicator down and looked around him. There might be Xac around with his weird "dad" so Gunvolt was cautious.

Xac and Zod was nearby. They got in the town a moment before Gunvolt and Copen arrived. Once they did, Xac fainted, exhausted from the use of septima. Zod was forced to carry him in the town and find a place to rest at. "If this is going to happen every time he uses his septima…" Zod thought bitterly in his mind. "I will have to find some way to boost him up when he's down. He's wasting my time for being this way!" Zod understood that Xac was a human injected with the power of septima so of course he wouldn't be used to his newfound power. But it was annoying to see Xac getting tired.

The town that the two warped to, after Zod threw the smoke bomb and Xac used his wormhole septima to bring them here, was abandoned. Either was abandoned or everyone killed each other in anarchy. Zod didn't care. That means he could scavenge around the area in peace. But it was possible there could be a few individuals that stayed behind and was ready to ambush the unfortunate. Zod made sure to keep his eyes and ears sharp. In the end, Zod found a building where he could hide Xac and went off to find something… anything for Xac to be refueled again and kept that way for some time. Zod hid Xac's body in a broken elevator with its door slightly closed but opened at the same time. "You stay here," Zod told the unconscious body. "And I better not see you gone when I come back." He departed after that.

* * *

Gunvolt saw enough of the town. The longer he stayed the more depressed he got. This town and the one near QUILL HQ was in anarchy, and from what? Sumeragi being erased? For the humans it was a government that they followed under. Gunvolt felt that humans tend to be scared of the unknown. Instead of investing on what adepts were they just had the impression that all adepts were evil. So they didn't care what happened to the ones that were shipped off and tortured to serve under Sumeragi, or they didn't know about that part at all.

Copen's help when taking care of the car monsters was great but he shows no sign of letting go his hatred for adepts, including Gunvolt. Strangely, he felt like Copen is this uncooperative little brother that won't see the side of his view. Gunvolt chuckled at the thought and decided to look for Copen. They guy obviously didn't have a communicator with him so there was that delay before they split from this town.

Just as Gunvolt was about to leave he heard something… a footstep. Gunvolt turned to where he heard it from and saw a shadow of someone going down a tight spot between two crumbly buildings. Gunvolt hurried to where that shadow went and saw that no one was there. It was either his imagination or not. "Hey," Gunvolt called, in case the person was afraid from him. "Are you alright? Don't worry, I won't bite." Gunvolt thought he could feel the person halt for second as if deciding whether to show themselves or not. Gunvolt eased himself into the tight spot and started to inch in. "Just stay there. I'll help you." But just as Gunvolt said that the person rushed off, obviously neglecting Gunvolt's word of help. Gunvolt called again but the person didn't stop again before they disappeared. "That was weird…" Gunvolt commented and scratch his head.

"Why don't we go after them?" Joule suggested. "We have to help even if they're afraid." Gunvolt agreed. It goes without saying. With Joule's help Gunvolt fled to the top of one of the building. He scanned the area below him and saw no one, which was strange.

"They're hiding. Somewhere down there," Gunvolt thought and scrutinized the area more. Gunvolt thought he could see a minor movement upon the rumble but before he could see anymore he heard Copen call at him.

"What are you doing up there? This is not a jungle gym. That building could crumble underneath you any second," Copen said.

"Are you actually worried about me?" Gunvolt scoffed. Tired of Copen's edginess, Guvnolt flew over to the area where he thought the person went.

* * *

" _He's just following his own shadow,"_ Copen thought to himself. Copen knew there was already nothing and no one in this junkyard of a town, so he decided to watch Gunvolt's foolish chase with whatever. He cautiously entered into the building that Gunvolt was in before. The stairs look like they had a clear way to take him to the roof but when he walked toward it he noticed something…. Or someone in an elevator that had its door opened ajar. Copen approached it slowly, in case the _thing_ was something dangerous. In the end, it was just a kid. He looked either tired or in pain. The fact that it was a human made Copen pity for the boy. _"If that Azure Striker did anything to upset this building… it would have crumbled along with this kid in it. Monster…"_ Copen moved toward the kid and held him in his hands while bringing out first aid and a large energizer drink.

Suddenly, the kid's eyes snapped open and he started slapping at Copen. He unhanded him and the kid crawled backwards against the wall, fright in his eyes. "No need to act that way. I'm only helping you," Copen reassured the scared boy. His eyes still held cautiousness. He twisted his head around the elevator to collect his bearings before looking back at Copen. "Where's my dad…?" he quietly said that Copen couldn't hear at first.

"You're lost," Copen stated and thought for a bit. "I could help you find him. May I ask what you go by?"

Instead of answering, the kid shook his head and stood up. "N-no. I can look for him myself." But despite him saying that, he fell back down to the ground. Copen handed him an energizer drink and the kid took it gingerly. "Xac…" he whispered after gulping down a few.

"Xac? You are Xac?" Copen asked to make sure. Xac nodded in response and he gulped down a few more drops. The two sat in momentary silence. Copen peered over at Xac. He had scratches all over his body and the clothes he wore was worn out. "How long were you lost from your father?" Xac told him it wasn't for long. "Then maybe he's still around. Let's go." Xac stared up at Copen as he stood up. "Come on." Copen and Xac left the crumbling building. "This is just unbelievable. All of this destruction just because a group of corrupted beings fell from their throne." Copen thought. Just then, a shockwave blew over them. Copen turned his head over to where it came from. "That Azure Striker…! What mess he dragged along now?" An explosion could be heard in the distance.

"Dad…" Xac said and took a step toward the sound. Copen was about to pull him back when Xac dashed off. Feeling obligated to find the boy's father, he ran after him.

* * *

Gunvolt caught up to the stranger running away. And found out it was Zod. "Are we tied that close by the string of fate that I keep seeing you?" Gunvolt sighed.

"My exact thoughts," Zod sneered. "Why don't you leave me be?"

"Afraid I can't do that. Especially since you- oh, I don't know- declared you wanted to rule the world and attacked me when I was about to eat." Gunvolt's stomach rumbled and he covered it with a hand. "In fact, I didn't had time to eat since I was feeling pain more than hunger."

Zod laughed. "You like complaining, don't you, boy? Don't you see the people are left astray without a light to lead their way? I'll be that new light. Are you against the idea of peace?"

"Having new light for people to follow isn't a bad idea. It's just you leading it will be twisted. Your whole being screams, 'I will cause even more anarchy!' That, or you'll use everyone as rungs in your ladder to complete dictatorship. Why don't you take the modest approach next time if you want me to believe you?"

"What are you going to do? Kill me to keep me silent?"

"I would, but I'm a good guy. I'll let you rot in prison instead. At EctoWav."

Zod put a hand in his coat jacket. "How about you rot instead?!" He quickly jerked his hand out from his pockets and the area surrounded in smoke. Gunvolt was already anticipating the action, and sped forward to knock him out. The butt of Gunvolt's gun made contact with Zod's forehead and he fell to the floor. Gunvolt held him in a lock as he flailed his arms and legs around, dusting away the smoke in the air.

"It's like a kid having a tantrum because he couldn't have his way," Gunvolt mumbled.

"Xac!" Zod cried out, blood running down his forehead. "Xac!" Zod continued to struggle. As Gunvolt moved his arms to Zod's neck for a head lock, the mad professor bit down on his flesh. "What the h-" Gunvolt was about to release his Flashfield, but somehow stopped himself from killing the man. "Calm the gack down!"

Not a moment after he said that when Joule shouted out in his mind, "Gunvolt, behind you!" Still preoccupied with the stubborn professor, Gunvolt didn't had time to dodge when a lightning beam burned onto his back. Gunvolt yelled from the pain and dropped Zod from his arms. He watched the man in a wincing expression as he fell into a wormhole in front of his eyes.

"That attack was like lightning… was like Jota's… What's going on here? I thought that savage version of Elise went into the next," Gunvolt thought. "Wait, there's that kid, Xac. He somehow has all of their septimal powers." Gunvolt scanned the surroundings in case he was going to be attacked again. No one was nearby. Not until he spotted Copen. Gunvolt turned to face him so that he wouldn't see his blistered back. "Took the john?" Copen was silent. He eyed the buildings almost eagerly. This was unexpected for Gunvolt. He thought he was going to retort or tell Gunvolt to hurry up and go to the next town. Well, probably not the latter. Copen could have went off himself. "There's no one here," Gunvolt reported, even though Copen didn't ask. "Except for a couple of lunatics," Gunvolt thought quietly to himself. With so much excitement, Gunvolt didn't notice the sky turning dark. It was time they turned in for the night. After convincing Copen to move from his supposed dazing, they move nearby the side of an old building, but not necessarily inside of it in case it crumpled in their sleep. Copen stayed far from Gunvolt and vice versa. This whole "traveling pair" thing was in reluctance. Gunvolt was getting supplies, and Copen was… yeah, Gunvolt didn't know the reason. Maybe it was to keep an eye out for him. Not even with a word of good night, Copen fell asleep. Luckily, Gunvolt had Joule to say it to him.

* * *

Zod and Xac was on the run again, stumbling. Zod had found something to wrap his head with, so the bleeding could cease. Still, he was having a headache. "So you actually heard me screaming for you. For once, I'm grateful," Zod said.

Xac blushed from his father's words. "Th-thank you. It's because of this." Xac held up an energizer drink.

"You found that?"

"No. Someone gave it to me."

Zod gave Xac a weird look. "Who?"

"A boy dressed in white," Xac answered. "Why? Was I not supposed to accept it?" Xac dropped the energizer drink as if it stung him.

Zod thought for a bit. "A boy in white… nah. Must be a kid lost or abandoned. But to have this…" Zod looked down to the energizer bottle and picked it up. There was still some of its substance left inside. He brought it up to Xac face and he flinched. "I'm going to stream this into your blood. It may not help cure your septima, but it should help you automatically heal for a while."

"You can do that?" Xac asked with wide eyes. It was either of fright or interest.

Zod sighed impatiently. "I've been doing everything here for you, boy. Don't ask me that again. We need a place to sit around a bit as I brew this." After they found a place to camp at, it didn't take long before the twisted professor conjured the auto-heal medicine. Xac rolled the sleeve of his hoodie up and Zod found a vein to stab the syringe in. Xac squeezed his eyes tight as the concoction went in. As it did, he could feel himself refreshed already. It was small, but it was something.

"Thanks!" Xac exclaimed and looked at himself. "I feel okay now."

Good," Zod huffed and sat back. "Listen. We're going to get that blondie's septima and inject it into you."

"What? How? He's fast. We can't-"

"Shut up. I'm not done talking yet. I bit into his arm before you saved me. We'll get his blood and I'll extract the septima from it." Xac just stared and nodded. "That's the plan. Now we rest. I want to get him at the next town over. We'll figure more tomorrow."

"You're really tired, Dad…"

Zod was going to retort, but decided not to. He's done for the day. "Yeah. You watch first shift," he ordered before bonking off the next second.

 **That's it for now. If you would like, leave a comment or review.**


	7. Chapter 7

Gunvolt woke up in the morning before Copen did. Surprisingly, his body didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. It still ached, but nothing Gunvolt can't handle. "Joule," Gunvolt whispered, realizing his aegis was probably the reason why. Without being able to return back to base, Gunvolt was highly injured. First aid could only go so far. He glanced over at Copen, who had his head lowered in sleep, while thinking, "If he wanted to finish me off, he might have the chance now."

"I won't allow that," Joule reassured Gunvolt in his head. Copen shifted in his sleep before stretching awake.

"Speak of the gacking devil…" Gunvolt mumbled. "Morning," he said aloud. Copen gave no "morning" back. Silently, they ate their rations and was on the road again. But not before Copen told Gunvolt he wanted to comb over the crumpled town one more time. Gunvolt reluctantly asked if he needed company. The answer was unanimous. Once Copen did come back, he didn't say anything and just started walking out of the town. Gunvolt ran ahead of him, knowing that Copen was going to follow. After a while of running in silence, Gunvolt stopped and turned to face Copen. "Spill. What are you doing coming with me?"

Copen disregarded Gunvolt with a sound from his throat. "I don't trust a demon like you with people at EctoWav City."

"So you _are_ keeping watch on me." Gunvolt shook his head. "When will you stop and actually listen? Not all adepts are monster like you say-"

"Why don't you heed my words? The humans trusted Sumeragi, but in the end they betrayed everyone's trust and lead this world to anarchy."

"Only because I done them in. You were going to do the same thing, so stop whining. Soon someone will get things back in control. QUILL will make sure of that."

"It's you adepts that made humans feel helpless that they are lead astray now."

Gunvolt's patience was running thin. "Heh, I'm surprised you haven't kill me yet. Obviously, you have a huge chip on your shoulder."

"You say yet, but haven't I've been trying? The captain of your group- he even declared it- stole my gun that was made specifically to zap you of energy and kill you. But…" Copen clasped his hand around the rocket launcher that was held onto his back. "I can kill you. You're weak after all."

"And here I was thinking we could at least call a truce," Gunvolt said, moving his hand to his belt. "You're not in working order too. You think a normal kid like you could beat a 'monster' like me?" Copen gave Gunvolt a cold glare in response as if he was weighing down the situation.

"Of course, because God is at my side," Copen said before smashing a coughing bomb onto the ground. Not only did it enable a coughing fit, bit is also stung the vision.

"I don't have time for this," Gunvolt grumbled to himself. Septima energy surged through his body, delivered by Joule, and he flew into the sky. A rocket bombarded the place where he stood seconds ago. Gunvolt tagged the rocket launcher that was cocked up on Copen's shoulder before giving a little fuse of electricity to send the weapon off. Copen staggered and Gunvolt dropped down in front of him. "Be grateful I didn't just-" but before Gunvolt could even finish his sentence, he was kicked in the side by Copen's roundhouse. Gunvolt caught himself from skidding and flew up into the air again. Bullets were aimed toward him and he dodged them. His patience snapping, Gunvolt dove toward Copen and tagged him. Copen continues to shoot at him, but it was proving difficult with Gunvolt evading. Once near, Gunvolt flew right by Copen and open up his Flashfield. The tag and the close proximity made the attack much more strong. Copen fell to his hands and knees, electricity temporarily stunning him. "I don't want to have to kill you. You're only a human, but if you continue getting on my back I won't hold down. If my life's in danger I will fight. Got that?" Either Copen refused to reply or the stun was sealing his lips shut. "Let's call a truce. Once we reach EctoWav City, that truce will be over," Gunvolt said and helped Copen back up. He was sluggish in his movement, but he's able to walk. Having a chug of the energizer drink brought him back up to speed. Gunvolt expected Copen to go the other way but he reluctantly followed him, but of course in a watchful way. Night fell and there was not a town in sight. They rest in a small area with shrubs and metal.

The next day, Gunvolt was not surprised when he woke up and Copen wasn't nearby. He finally decided to leave. Gunvolt was glad for that, so he continued without the extra burden. It was only a few miles later did Gunvolt realized Copen took everything along with him. Including the food and energizer drinks. He sighed in spite of the spoiled attitude of Copen. Gunvolt thought about how he should have pushed away Copen's offer of coming with him and carry that oversized bag of Moniqa's himself. "Gunvolt, you're really tired…" Joule said quietly in his mind.

"Don't worry about it," Gunvolt reassured her, not sure if he was telling the truth or not. Joule probably knew how he felt since she was part of him anyways. Without another response, Gunvolt heard a little murmuring in the air. The sound got louder until Gunvolt realized it was Joule singing. Her septima, Lumen, had the voice of serenity that sprang Gunvolt back up when he's down. As he ran, he heard Joule sing. The song was so pure, so light, that somehow Gunvolt was feeling a bit refreshed. His soul turned in his body, partly aching that he couldn't hug Joule right now for such beautiful singing, and happiness that she is near no matter where he was. When Joule finally finished the song, Gunvolt felt renewed. The cuts and bruises all over his body felt like nothing. He felt nimble enough again to run even faster. "Joule… that was beautiful," Gunvolt said before he even realized it.

"Just a quick verse for you to feel better. I hoped it helped you heal a bit," Joule told Gunvolt.

"Wait. That was a song of healing?" Gunvolt questioned. If Joule had the power to make her songs heal Gunvolt, he would be able to rest from worrying.

Joule was silent for a bit, the air around her filled with a sense of sadness. "I guess you can say that. It only heals a little, though. Sorry… and you were depending on me." Gunvolt told Joule she didn't need to worry and that she helped him more than enough. "Thanks!" Joule replied, the air around her filling up with warmth of relief.

A new city was appearing at the horizon. It didn't took long before Gunvolt was in the city. It didn't looked that wrecked as the city near QUILL headquarters and the last one. The city grounds was just dirty of parts. Thinking of QUILL reminded Gunvolt of Moniqa and Zeno, and he wondered how they were holding up. "It's Gunvolt. Anyone home?" Gunvolt called into his communicator. No one picked up. "Huh. That's strange." Gunvolt put away the communicator. "Maybe they're busy…?" He detected movement from behind rubble and blasted it away with his Cerberus. Shocker, it was Zod and Xac.

Zod smacked Xac, and scolded him. "You gave us away!" Xac apologized.

"What do you clowns want this time?" Gunvolt sighed and rolled his eyes. Xac flinched from the insult. Zod rested a hand on his shoulder and put a fake sympathetic expression on his face.

"How could you call this boy a clown? You bully," Zod said and roughly rustled Xac's hair.

"Bully? Hypocrite enough?" Gunvolt questioned mockingly.

Zod ignored Gunvolt's comment and continued talking. "Don't worry, my boy. Gave him a show if he expects one." After Zod removed his hand from his head, Xac looked to his father and gave a determined nod. He stepped forward and started to yell out. At first, Gunvolt thought he was in pain, but it was a war cry instead. Blue light surrounded him before it completely enveloped him. When the light show was over, Xac reappeared different. His new form reminded Gunvolt of Merak and Jota strangely, it being mecha themed and the color combination of the two. He hovered with the jets that replaced his legs. His arms were spears that emit energy as the blades. Xac teleported the two, with the wormhole septima, to the top of a skyscraper.

"How-" Gunvolt started. Xac made wormholes appear at both of his sides and Gunvolt's. He extended his arms and the spears flew off and into the wormholes near him. The spears flew out the wormholes near Gunvolt. He rolled from the attack just in time as the spears grazed him a little on the back. From rolling forward, Gunvolt was closer to Xac and fired three bullets at him. It tagged. He unleashed his Flashfield. Xac groaned and stumbled the electricity that ran through his veins.

"Behind you!" Joule warned Gunvolt and he flew into the air. The spears just returned back to Xac's arm sockets, but Gunvolt was still releasing his Flashfield. Watching him, Gunvolt knew Xac was too a novice to fight and wield those powers that wasn't his. Suddenly, the kid shimmered from his sight and the Flashfield disconnected. Xac reappeared so quick that even Joule couldn't help detect where he was coming from. He appeared from behind Gunvolt and blasted him with the jets from his legs. Gunvolt flew toward the ground, and Xac used the wormholes to teleport him flying back up. He spiked Gunvolt to the ground once more with his spear arms. Gunvolt crashed through the weak skyscraper and the whole thing started to fall apart.

"Damn…" Gunvolt grumbled. He leaped into the air to start flying to safety, but a wormhole unexpectedly appear before him and he flew in. When he got out, they were flying in front of a much bigger screened TV than from the town near QUILL HQ. Gunvolt couldn't marvel as much before Xac swung his arms to strike Gunvolt. He blocked the attack with his Cerberus, the blade momentarily drained of energy from the contact. Gunvolt used his Flashfield so that Xac go back off. He did. He backed off into a wormhole and appeared even further away. One moment he was a ways off before suddenly he was so close. Gunvolt evaded the attack in time. Otherwise, he would be sundered. "That kid's fast. I'll give him that," Gunvolt thought. Xac came flying back at Gunvolt and he dodged again. "But two can play that game," Gunvolt finished. Xac flew by again. His attacks were getting predictable. Once Gunvolt evaded again, he tagged Xac with three bullets quickly. When he knew that Xac would be flying back at him, Gunvolt released electricity. It held Xac back some, slowing his speed down. When Xac went for another charge, Gunvolt managed to give him a strong kick to the side, making the kid stumble in the air before he recovered himself. He shook his head as if dizzy.

"That was... insane..." Gunvolt heard him mumble.

"Wait. He didn't know how to stop himself?" Gunvolt just realized. Not only were these not his septima, he doesn't know how to control them. If he doesn't know how to control them, the world is in great danger. "Why are you fighting when you don't even know how to?" Gunvolt asked Xac.

"I do too!" Xac countered. "I'm just not used to it...!" He raised his hand out in front of him and a wormhole appeared beneath Gunvolt. Gunvolt narrowly dodged the laser that flew out from it.

Gunvolt steadied himself in the air and stared sternly into Xac's eyes. "Can we just talk without you throwing out attacks at me?"

Xac scorned, his expression fitting as his father. "What made you think we were going to talk? Die!" He made another wormhole appear under Gunvolt and he dodged like before. But then another wormhole appeared right next to him as he did and a laser blasted at Gunvolt. Receiving that attack head on made Gunvolt spiraling down to the ground. He crashed straight into another skyscraper, making it crumple, but not necessarily falling apart. Gunvolt cracked an eyelid open and saw himself lodged in an office-like space. Some computers lie strewn around the area while some still perched on top of desks. It was as if the people didn't cause much havoc inside than outside.

As Gunvolt struggled to get up, he felt a small tingle run through his body. "Huh...?" Gunvolt looked down to where he was at. He was in the face of a computer. When Gunvolt moved again, he felt the tingle once more. His eyes followed the cord that connected the computer to a shared socket of other computer plugs.

"Electricity is still running here," Joule stated. Gunvolt nodded with a small smile. He held on to the wires that came from the crashed computer he was in and tried recharging himself. The tingling became a current that ran through Gunvolt's body. The whole place almost seem to have come alive. Computer screens were flashing on and off. Fizzing could be heard from the electricity rushing through the cords, the wires, and to Gunvolt. The office seem to be burning too, considering the smell and smoke from the fizzing cords. Xac must have wanted to check and see if Gunvolt was dead or not. He used his wormhole to teleport in the office and saw the weird flashing of the room. Before he could understand what's happening, Gunvolt turn to smirk at Xac and lunged at him. He caught on to Xac's body and the two flew out the office windows.

In the next three steps, Gunvolt tagged Xac three times again. First, as he was still holding onto Xac, he shot him. Then he pushed away from Xac and gave his head a hit from his heel. Second, while Xac was falling down alongside of the building, Gunvolt shot him again. Finally, he dropped himself down next to Xac and shot him. Xac was just regaining his bearings when Gunvolt cried out, "Septimal Surge!" This skill allowed Gunvolt's attack to temporarily boost. Immediately after he activated his skill, Gunvolt used his Flashfield. He could tell it delivered more of a kick. The conductivity seem to wrap around Xac like a hand and fling him down faster to the ground. Xac's mouth could be seen opened in a yell, but no sounds escape his throat. The high voltage in the air neutralized his voice. Even in the air, Gunvolt could feel a small quiver when Xac crashed into the ground. He landed safely from where Xac lie. The boy still tremble with life despite the hard fall.

Gunvolt held his left hand upward. "I still have you connected. If you don't want to feel that again, hold yourself." Xac didn't reply but his glare spoke that he didn't want to hold himself against Gunvolt. Gunvolt thought it would be better if he jumped to the point. "Look, I don't know what kind of relationship you have with your dad, but it's not a good one. I barely know him, but I can tell he's just using you."

"S-so?!" Xac managed to respond back. "I want him to use me... then I don't need to be left alone anymore."

Gunvolt was kind of confused from the kid's word. "How would him using you make you not be lonely?" He knew it could be because the dad was the only person Xac had, but the way how Xac said it made it like his dad was ready to throw Xac away if he became useless. A father would never throw their own son away. Xac looked like he was about to answer when he remebered Gunvolt was the enemy and kept his lips shut. "So you're trying to get his gratitude by doing whatever he tells you? Kid, that's not how you _not_ be lonely," Gunvolt said.

"Shuddap! You know nothing of me and Father!" Xac yelled in protest.

"I know that you're desperate and he's puppeteering you," Gunvolt replied nonchalantly.

Xac started getting up, and Gunvolt stepped back, his left hand still poised up as if to remind Xac he's still tagged for conductivity. "Father saved me from loneliness, abandonment, and despair. Whatever he says is right, I carry it out for him. Because I owe him my life." Xac's jets flared up and Gunvolt emphasized his left hand again. His right hand held tight to his Cerberus in case he needed to renew the tags. "If Father tells me to destroy the world..." Xac floated upright in midair. "... I will destroy it." Gunvolt managed to release his Flashfield to conduct damage to Xac before he materialized himself from where he was. The tag was lost and Gunvolt scanned the area for oncoming attacks. He faced a gaping wormhole that shot a spear out at him. Gunvolt dodged it, but another spear appeared out of nowhere and gashed his right shoulder open. He stumbled from the cut and Xac appeared above him to smack him to the ground. Gunvolt banged against the ground and Xac stood above him with a spear arm outstretched to his neck.

"Father needs your blood, and I'll bring him lots," Xac spoke emotionlessly, his eyes dull.

Gunvolt held Xac's cold gaze. "Hold on! Maybe you do owe your dad for saving your life, but don't you have your own morals?"

Something flicked in Xac's eyes. "Morals?"

"Rules that you play by. You make it like your dad always say the worst. If he wanted the world destroyed, you'll destroy it? Then you know he is a bad egg. If you have your own morals, you wouldn't want to listen to him. You would know what's right and wrong."

Xac stayed silent, watching Gunvolt with eyes that now seem to hold something else. Realization? Gunvolt hoped it was that. But the kid's eye twitched and it showed something twisted. His mouth stretched into a hideous grin before saying, "I never knew what was right or wrong. Nobody taught me. I was left to die when I was still in my diapers. That's why I wouldn't mind if Father told me to kill this stupid world." So the father of his was not his biological father after all.

Gunvolt's hands clenched. "Here I thought you were a good kid. But you're just as demented as your 'father.' This world may be horsejitt, but it's a world where mistakes were made and we learn from it." Gunvolt pitched forward. The spear would have pierced through his neck if it wasn't for the Chargeguard Pendant he had equiped. It gave him only a small invincibility window, but that was enough for him to move out of the spear's way, smack Cerberus across Xac's face, and tackle him down with his Flashfield up. Gunvolt began chanting once Xac was on the ground again.

"Lightning that flickers,

Like a star, and purges all,

That violate its realm,

Astrasphere!"

An electrical sphere surrounded Gunvolt and three smaller electrical ones orbited around him. The high density of the attack collided with Xac, making him scream out. The three small electrical spheres kept hitting Xac again and again with new waves of shock. Recieving that much damage made Xac dissolve into the azure light. When the offensive skill was finished, the area fizzed with the recent activity. Gunvolt let out a breath and his left hand went to his right shoulder. It stung from his touch and he pulled his hand back. Joule's presence can be felt nearby before she started singing. His shoulder gash felt let painful. "I only nullified it for the time being," Joule explained. "I'll make sure to appropriately heal you some when we find a place to rest at... Gunvolt?"

Gunvolt stayed silent in despair. It wasn't anything new killing another adept... except Xac wasn't an adept. He was once human, Gunvolt believed, until he was given those septima. The ones he just battled were of Merak and Jota. Gunvolt doesn't know how it could've happened, but the foster dad of Xac was probably the explanation. As Gunvolt thought about him, he wondered where the man could be. If he was nearby, did he witnessed his son's death and is mourning over it? Or he doesn't care? Gunvolt looked over the area and there was no one in sight. Just as Gunvolt thought. That crazy doctor was using Xac.

Gunvolt kind of regret killing Xac, but he was an obstacle that the world would face sooner or later if he wasn't dealt with now. With that hurdle down, Gunvolt could continue his journey toward EctoWav City and receive the supplies for QUILL.

 **To be continued...**

 **If you would like, please leave a comment or a review. Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8

Copen had enough venturing with the Azure Striker. Not only did Copen despise him, but he felt ashamed that he can't kill Gunvolt even if he wanted to. The weapons he had equipped were worthless. So he looked for new ones. Copen also planned to go to EctoWav City before Gunvolt and warn the people there to prepare themselves when he arrive. Maybe they would try to kill him then, too.

The Azure Striker seem to try many times to look good in front of Copen. Although, all of it doesn't matter. All adepts are the same. Monsters that ran rampant in this world. There is no forgiving them. Just because they have the supernatural powers to control does not mean they have to be in charge.

Copen didn't take the straight route in case Gunvolt awoke soon after and caught up to him. So Copen strayed off to the side a bit, making sure to look through debris that may have something useful as a weapon. Once he started picking through some of the stuff, Copen thought of how pathetic he probably looked and stopped salvaging around. It was miles he slowly traveled. Curse the Azure Striker for numbing his muscles. He still felt tense even though that all happened yesterday.

But by walking and taking his time, Copen was able to get the blood flowing through his veins again instead of electricity. He picked up his speed to run when he realized he had that humongous backpack still strapped onto him. He took it off and threw it to the ground. The pack banged loudly with the pots, pans, and cans. Copen was frustrated to have actually lug that thing around with him. It belonged to Gunvolt and his accomplices, so having it now was like an insult. He was not part of that Azure Striker and his team.

Copen begun walking away from the huge pack. But each step he took seem to shake the earth. Copen took note of it, but just passed it off as nothing before he resumed walking. The trembling seem to get more awful in each step. Confused, Copen stopped and observed the field. Either there was going to be an earthquake or an unknown herd of whatever could appear from the horizon.

Silence.

Copen shrugged mentally to himself and took another step.

Then the earth gave way underneath him. He tried scrambling back up to stable land, but it seem the whole acre was caving in. There was a lot of dust and dirt, tumbles and falls, but Copen managed to stay unscathed when he found himself at the bottom of the cave-in. Everything fell in straight, so there was no hills to try and hike up. There were footholds and handholds from earth walls, but when Copen went and try to climb, the wall crumbled with dirt.

Copen sighed from his luck. He took a step back and observed the area around him. Upon doing so, he noticed that this wasn't just any regular cave-in. It was a tunnel. Or was it an abandoned mine shaft? Whatever it was, it was man made. The weakness of the foundation made the earth fall in. Figuring there would be an exit, Copen planned to venture into the tunnels. But it was dark for Copen to walk into and not get lost. He searched around himself again for anything that may be useful in shedding light through the tunnels. He saw that the huge backpack was down there with him. Copen went and checked the contents, there were matches. Hating to admit he was grateful, Copen decided to bring along the large thing and strapped it back on his back. He flicked a match to life and continued deep into the tunnel.

* * *

Gunvolt didn't felt like leaving the city yet. He needed to rest after that battle. He started to sit when Joule suggested, "Maybe you could relax at that TV." Gunvolt could feel her signaling the very large TV screen he dodged Xac's charge in front of. "There just might be electricity there." Gunvolt took Joule's suggestion and flew there. He was hovering in the middle of the screen before jutting his hand into its screen and breaking it. Gunvolt could feel the wires that rested behind the screen and he gripped onto them. He tugged them out and removed the rubber around the wires before trying to recharge. It worked. The electrical current gave was much more powerful than the ones in the office building.

While recharging, Gunvolt called out, "Galvanic Renewal!" His aches and pains, gashes and bruises seem to disappear. It was like his reproductive cells were working around his body in full drive. By using the electrical current that ran through these wires, Gunvolt's able to heal himself somewhat fully. "Look at that, Joule!" Gunvolt exclaimed, dropping the wires and looking down at his hands. "I feel new."

"That's a great! Good thing this TV still ran on electricity," Joule commented.

"Yeah. I thought the people would have killed it off," Gunvolt added. Just then, his communicator rang. He answered it with relief. "Gunvolt here."

"Gunvolt!" Moniqa greeted. "I'm glad you're okay! It was just-"

"-one of the civilians went a little wacko and killed our signals!" Zeno finished for her. "We gave him some water and he demanded for juice, the ungrateful prick! Then he ran around having a tantrum and tripped, wetting us and our communicators. It wasn't that bad until some more others joined in and threw their cups of water at us. They probably thought it was some kind of game, but really?" Gunvolt wasn't sure what to say so he didn't say anything. It was also supposed to be awkward between the two since Gunvolt left on this journey without telling Zeno.

"Zeno, save story time for later." Moniqa told Zeno and seem to push him out of the way. "How about you, GV? Where are you?"

Gunvolt looked for a sign of the city name. He caught it from the office building he fell in earlier. "Nellock City."

"Nellock City?" Gunvolt could hear Moniqa typing something down. "Yep. You're somewhat close to EctoWav City. Just continue north."

"Roger," Gunvolt confirmed.

He heard more scuffling from the other end of the communicator. "Hey, man. So have you ever found that kid again? You know, the one that used septima to teleport us in that control room?" Zeno asked. Xac. He was talking about Xac. Gunvolt wasn't going to say anything but surprisingly did. He told Zeno about how he had been seeing Xac throughout the journey and how they just fought moments ago. He didn't mention about Xaac's death. "Well? Did you win?" Zeno questioned. Gunvolt could tell he was smirking at the other end. "Aw, kidding! 'Course you did! Why would you be talking to us now?"

For every one-on-one fight Gunvolt's gone through, he had to kill. It was only necessary when things got in the way of his goal. The lot of Sumeragi perished because of Gunvolt. Even when they were resurrected by that abomination side of Elise, Gunvolt didn't hesitate to kill them all the second time. It's like a one track mind. But killing an adept was one thing. Killing a human was another. While he took down the adepts that were in his way, he spared Copen. The guy was annoying, but Gunvolt couldn't kill him even if he was in the way. Xac used to be a human. He could tell. The way the kid handle his septima was like he never had it his whole life. And if he had septima to begin with, he might've not felt so obligated to stay with that clown "father" of his.

"Geeves? Dude, hey. You there?" Zeno called into the communicator. Gunvolt snapped back into the present.

"I have to go. There's my report," Gunvolt replied. He didn't mean to suddenly hang up, but he was out of it and did it automatically. As Gunvolt ran out of the city, a thought popped into his head. When Zeno asked if Gunvolt "won" the fight, what did he meant? Did he knew that Gunvolt killed Xac? If he knew that and was still chipper after the fact, it disturbed Gunvolt. Then again, he could be reading too much into it. Zeno probably thought Gunvolt defeated Xac and left him lying. Hopefully, it was.

* * *

Night fell and Zod was still searching through Nellock City for Xac. "Where's that brat? Don't tell me he went and got himself killed," Zod mumbled to himself. He looked up to the twilight colored sky. "This place is too quiet for there to be any fighting left." Zod looked to the abandoned buildings again and finally called out for Xac. He didn't answer. Persistently, Zod searched the whole city. The place wasn't that much of wreck like previous cities. Building were still intact and- what was this? There was a pharmacy store that still held some medicine. Zod snickered with glee and broke into the store.

After salvaging the store, he resumed looking for Xac. He almost gave up, when he saw an unnatural pothole near an office building. Pieces of glass were scattered around the area. Zod rushed to the hole and peered down into it, expecting Xac to be lying down there unconscious. He wasn't. "He died, didn't he," Zod thought to himself. "How weak, dying to one boy with one power. I thought I told him to hit that blondie with two of his own! Useless, stupid, irresponsible boy!" Zod smacked the ground with both fists. "Doesn't matter. I'll just inject the leftover septima into me." Zod got up and turned away from the hole. Just when he did, something glowed behind him. He stopped and slowly turned back around. The glow was only a few feet from him. It was taking form. First a pillar, arms and legs.

Then a boy body. The glow slowly dense itself until the figure was fully revealed.

Xac was back. For a moment, the boy stood there in awe and confusion. He looked to his shaking hands before clasping them. Zod took note that he was himself and not in his other form. "I... I did it!" Xac cried out and danced a little. "I actually did it!"

"What's the occasion?" Zod asked and stepped toward Xac. He gripped onto Xac's wrist and the boy stopped dancing before slapping his father's hand off of him. "What the-"

"O-oh, Father! I'm so sorry! It was by instinct and-" Zod seized Xac's wrist again with one hand and strike him in the face with the other.

With a forced smile, he asked Xac again, "What's the occasion? What's worked you up to hop around like a fool?"

With a hand held to his cheek, Xac stammered back, "Th-thanks to your engineering, Father, I have auto-healing, r-right?" Zod nodded for Xac to go on. "W-well, I used that and made my atoms separate in time before he... k-killed me..." Xac forgot he almost failed for his father and slowed down.

"Kill you? Before he killed you?" Zod pulled back his hand and Xac flinched from the movement. What he felt next was different than he thought it was going to be. Zod petted Xac. Although, it felt worse than what it would have felt as a slap. Just like his smile, his "comfort" was fake. "I'm glad you at least survived. But you could have at least responded when I called out for you, you insolate-" Zod stopped himself and took a deep breath. "I mean, where were this whole time? Because of you, time has been wasted. Blondie is out of our grasp now."

"I... I was kind of lost when I separated my atoms. The whole area was filled electrical currents so I was scared and messed up. Blondie... it was like he was using some kind of special move. So after my atoms were kind of scattered from each other, I didn't know what to do for a while before casting Resurrection and bringing myself together. It was y-you, Father, that made me realize I could do that. I saw you looking for me."

"Yeah, be grateful. But that's not the point not now." Zod looked to the sky. Blondie's gone so now I can't retrieve his septima."

"He's not that far," Xac replied quietly.

Zod glared at Xac from the corner of his eyes. "Oh really? How long were you floating around? It was daytime, now it's night time. Use your head."

Xac gulped and gave an explanation to his intuition. "I strangely feel his energy. I could maybe teleport us close where he is."

Zod's eyes lit up. "Can you?" Xac tried, but he stumbled and fell over. "Here, have this," Zod offered and gave him an energizer drink. Xac drank it up desperately. After he down the bottle, Zod told him to try again. He did and a wormhole opened up. They both stepped into it, and when they left throught it, Gunvolt was near sleeping. "Excellent! Just like that and we're in front of Blondie!" Zod whisper-shouted.

Xac stared at Gunvolt for a while before looking back up his father and asking, "So, do we attack him now or...?"

"Now," Zod answered and Xac took a step forward. When he did, the air around Gunvolt shifted and something started to appear from his body. Zod pulled Xac back and he made a wormhole for the two to fall through. Back near Nellock City, Zod said, "We can't. Not with that guardian angel of his. It won't let us close without warning Blondie first."

"Guardian angel?" Xac closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Yeah, I felt another presence with him."

"I already knew he wasn't the only one fighting. If only I could steal that guardian angel of his..." Zod shook his head. "Nonetheless, we have to hold out our attacks until tomorrow. Boy," he looked to Xac. "Make sure to get stronger by then. Use powers 1, 4, and 5 this time."

"Got it."

 **To be continued...**

 **Please leave a comment or review, if you would like. Thank you for the feedback!**


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Gunvolt made it to town. Ouncel Town. The buildings that once stood in it was burned to their bones. "Seems like full blown arson happened," Gunvolt stated. The town offered nothing. Much less, food. Gunvolt was hungry considering Copen took along that pack of food Moniqa supplied.

The communicator rang and Gunvolt picked up. After reporting where he was, Moniqa informed Gunvolt that Ouncel Town was a town known for barbequing. So arson would make sense for this town to perish. "Are you out of rations?" Moniqa asked after.

Gunvolt paused a bit before replying, "You can say that."

"Then it's hunting time!" Zeno butted in. "Those people must have stashed their dry rations somewhere around there. Even if the whole town's gone up in flames, that doesn't mean there shouldn't be food kept safely somewhere in case of an emergency." Gunvolt mildly disagreed. An anarchy is an emergency. All of the stowed food would be taken away by now. "It's likely someone started a fire on one building and it spread like, well, wildfire. Everyone could have fled and left their rations behind." There's that, too, but there was also the possibility some didn't run away and waited to retrieve their saved rations first.

"Did you just finish your rations? Or has it been some time now since you gone without food?" Moniqa started asking again. Not wanting Moniqa to worry he lied to her that he just finished and would search for food now. They hung up after saying a good bye and good luck. Gunvolt went over to the skeletal figures of the houses and kicked aside dirt and burnt pieces of wood to find anything lying underneath. Surprisingly, in each house, there was a cooler. While those stood the fire, they were empty. Presumably because they were emptied out by dwellers who wanted their food.

Gunvolt was beginning to find the search useless when he kicked aside some ashes in this one house and a basement trapdoor appeared. Gunvolt opened his Flashfield to break off the trapdoor and dropped in. It was dark, but Gunvolt continued using his Flashfield as light and saw that this cellar held dry meat. They hung by the ceiling of the basement and Gunvolt snatched them down. The meat was like jerky when Gunvolt bit into one. Somehow, they didn't molded over. Gunvolt thought that maybe a special spice was sprinkled over them to preserve the meat.

There was plenty for Gunvolt to save. He found something to store the jerky in and kept it near him with a small satchel. While the meat was fine, Gunvolt was getting thirsty. He strayed from the houses and made it to what seemed to have been a town square. A well stood at the middle of it. Gunvolt pulled up a bucket of water from the well and it was still fresh. He drank down half a gallon before lowering the bucket back into the well.

When he pulled it up again, he almost didn't notice the snake that rode in the bucket and lunged to strike his face. Gunvolt jumped back instinctively. The bucket clattered over the side of the well and the snake and water spilled out. Gunvolt cursed under his breath. Then he noticed the ground shaking and a fissure running straight toward him! Gunvolt jumped out of the way again and someone popped out of that fissure. He turned to face Gunvolt and it was...! Xac. He looked different again.

Xac looked like he had four arms. The top set of arms were attached to this bulky piece of armor that rode his shoulders. These hands clenched and unclenched in either anxious. When the fingers were uncurled, Gunvolt saw that they were razor sharp. His real arms were hanging at his sides. But the hands were in the shape of cannons. Adding to the ridiculous appearance was his messy mop-like hair. Gunvolt wouldn't have recognized the figure as Xac if it wasn't for his eyes which held desperation.

"You're alive?" Gunvolt blurted out. He was more or less not surprised. Which surprised even himself. While he grieved for Xac, he thought that there was no way the kid would just disappear like that. Truth be told, maybe Gunvolt held back on his Astrasphere if that was the reason he still lives.

"Yes," Xac simply replied. Without another word, he raised one of his canon hands and a laser shot out of it. Gunvolt evaded it and rushed forward to tag Xac. He didn't want to attack, he just wanted an explanation. But Xac was indifferent and gave Gunvolt no chance to ask. By moving his arm after Gunvolt, the laser followed. In another instinct, Gunvolt tagged Xac three times and used Flashfield. Xac stumbled and he put down his canon arm, the lasers stopped. Then in the midst of getting shocked, Xac raised his other canon arm and Gunvolt started feeling himself getting pulled back. He momentarily stopped using Flashfield and saw that a magnetic energy ball was tugging at him. Since Gunvolt was made of electricity, magnets are highly effective. Although, he is only attracted to magnetic fields when his Flashfield is in use. This magnetic energy, however, was just force pulling in anything but the user.

Traces of talking with Xac was over. It was time Gunvolt put his game face on or he will probably die. Xac may have not had septima before but he seemed to be adapting quickly. Maybe talking could be done after the battle. That is, if both survived to speak.

Gunvolt focused to dash away from the magnetic energy. He was getting some good distance from it, so the force was weaker. Then a wormhole appeared right in front of him and Gunvolt accidently dashed into it. When he stepped out of it, he found himself running toward the magnetic energy. With his speed and the force, Gunvolt ran into it and the magnetic energy exploded. Gunvolt was sent flying, his body searing. From the ground, he slowly looked up and saw Xac directly in front of him. "You're alive, but you're still doing what your so called father wants."

Xac didn't reply this time, and he raised his fist to smack at Gunvolt. Gunvolt rolled out from his heavy fist, but the whole area caved into a gigantic pothole and Gunvolt fell in. Xac once again tried to smack Gunvolt's face in, but Gunvolt used his Chargeguard Pendant to gain a second of invincibility and got out of the pothole while tagging Xac once again. Xac charged up the walls of the pothole and Gunvolt released his Flashfield to shock him. He saw Xac wincing, but the boy still managed to climb up the pothole and slam at the space Gunvolt once was before a second ago.

After dodging Xac's smash, Gunvolt lunged forward to give him a kick to the face, but Xac's hair started coming alive around his head and his eyes gleamed an ominous purple. Next thing Gunvolt knew was that he was frozen. His body felt like stone. Then he realized that he was stone. "Like Medusa!" Gunvolt thought. "His hair is alive like Medusa. But that glare is like Elise's."

"Good. Now..." Xac raised both his canon hands and a wormhole appeared in front of him. "Eat laser!" He shot lasers into the wormhole in front of him while three wormholes appeared around Gunvolt and the blast collided into him. Gunvolt screamed and he felt his body searing in heat. The lasers ripped at his skin. He felt like he was done for. With the lasers colliding at this one place, there was bound to be an explosion. And when that happened. Gunvolt felt like his physical body and soul dissolved separately.

When everything cleared up, Gunvolt found himself on the ground with his body still intact. "Don't give up, Gunvolt!" Joule encouraged. His aegis helped weakened the attack to its extreme.

"Joule... of course," Gunvolt sat up and could feel his body surge with even more septima.

Eyes wide, Xac screamed, "You should have died!"

Gunvolt smirked. "You might find me like a roach then." He flew forward and slammed his Cerberus into Xac's face. Despite his bulky build, he fell over and Gunvolt turned around to tag him. Once that was set, Gunvolt gave a burst of Flashfield. Xac howled in pain and Gunvolt added more damage by continuously shooting his Cerberus.

Xac gave a monstrous grunt and swung claw like hands. Slash marks appeared in the air and they flew at Gunvolt. He back flipped out of the way. Then he felt something behind him and saw that Xac warped from his wormhole. He a slashed at Gunvolt back and he stumbled forward. Xac delivered an uppercut after and Gunvolt was sent into the well. Luckily, he didn't fall in. Refusing to look at Xac for fear he'll gave him the medusa glare, Gunvolt looked into the well instead and got an idea. Gunvolt roped the bucket back into the well as he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He changed his view to the sky and saw Xac drop down from a wormhole above.

Gunvolt dodged in time and jerked the bucket up in the process. He could feel most of the water spilling, but there was enough for him to splash it over Xac. Xac was slowly standing back upright from his attempted hit to Gunvolt's noggin, and he threw the bucket over him. Xac stood looking over himself, soaked and wondering why he was. Until when it finally hit him… it hit him. Gunvolt released his Flashfield, making sure to tag before. The conductivity was a light show. Maybe Gunvolt's gone too far, but the onslaught of electricity wasn't long before Joule almost mutely cried out, "Gunvolt...!"

Instinctively, he peered behind himself and saw something white flying toward him. He dropped his Flashfield and jumped out of the way. Xac slumped to the ground and Gunvolt locked his eyes onto the flying object. It was Copen's shield. It flew an arc around Gunvolt until it returned to the hand of the mad doctor, Zod. "That's enough of that. I don't want you killing my boy again," Zod said. Gunvolt still eyeing the man didn't notice the glow behind him. When he did and looked back, he saw that Xac was in his original form.

"F-Father... thank you for rescuing me," Xac stuttered.

"You're a stubborn one," Zod said to Gunvolt, ignoring Xac's thanks. "But this time I was able to observe well into your attacks. Xac, let's g-"

"You think I'll let you guys off like that?" Gunvolt cut him off and ran toward Zod. But was once again, he was tricked into going in a wormhole and warped back out somewhere far from where he used to be. "Those people are getting to me. Xac won't answer a gacking thing either," Gunvolt said into the air. The two may escape for now, but Gunvolt knew that he was going to meet them again in further towns and cities. For some reason, they wanted his blood. Literally. It's the creepy thing he remembered Xac declaring. Gunvolt didn't know the reason, and he wants it to stay that way.

While standing around figuring what the problem could be with the two strangers, Gunvolt felt something else. Before, he didn't felt alone. Now he did. He instantly called out for Joule, knowing that may be the reason why he felt empty. By hearing Gunvolt's voice, Joule's presence flickered inside of Gunvolt. "It's n-nothing really. Softening a move like what Xac just did was… I admit, difficult," she tried to reassure Gunvolt.

"I'm asking too much of you, Joule," Gunvolt said quietly.

The air shifted like Joule was shaking her head. "Stop it. I'll never stop protecting you, Gunvolt. And I'm curious about Xac and why he wants to do so much for a father like that one."

"True. I just don't wanna fight him. But I can't just stand around and die talking to him either," Gunvolt reasoned. Then he pondered an idea a bit before revealing to Joule. "Fighting might just be the option to open him up, though."

* * *

Xac couldn't stop heavily breathing. "I can't take it! Using all of that septima... really uses up my stamina."

"You mean your septimal energy. It's the only issue we have by using multiple septima. I wish you wouldn't get so tired," Zod sighed.

"S-sorry..." Xac murmured. "I'll... I'll get him next time, Father. I'm still not used to this."

Zod shrugged while shaking his head back and forth in an "oh well" notion. "Long battles are out of the question when using multiple septima, I suppose. Maybe you could rest a while before engaging combat with Blondie again."

"Really?" Xac was surprised his father suggested the idea.

Zod squinted at Xac before slowly replying. "Yesss... I'll make sure to train you on how to prolong your battles while using multiple septima." He made it sound like he had experience before. Xac nodded in agreement before he began waning and fell forward.

"What do you think you're doing? Here's not the right place to collapse. Let's hide first. Blondie could be looking to capture or kill us now." Xac randomly and tiringly warped the two somewhere safe. That's where he fell into unconsciousness. While he was, Zod injected more energizer drink fluids into his blood stream. His earlier small amount of auto-heal ran dry and now he needed a new dose. While it helped fixed his injuries by some, it didn't help him mentally.

 **To be continued…**

 **Battle scenes are hard to write and extend…**

 **If you would like, please leave a review or comment. Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

Gunvolt returned to Ouncel Town in case Xac and Zod held back. They obviously didn't. "Why don't you move on? Since they're after you, it won't be long until you see them again,' Joule suggested. Gunvolt took the suggestion and salvaged for more jerky before resuming his journey. While Gunvolt traveled a couple towns over he didn't encounter the two. He thought that maybe that maybe he gave up on them, but it wouldn't be as easy as that. They were probably coming up with plans to ambush him.

Gunvolt's speculation was right. While he went city to city, Xac and Zod trailed behind. They were far enough that Gunvolt and his guardian angel won't detect their presence. Apparently, the boy had sharp senses. Xac was still able to connect to Gunvolt's presence even from a distance. It was unknown why, but it was useful so there wasn't any argument. As the followed behind, Zod made Xac transform in and out of forms and use his septima every once in the while so he could get used to it.

"You're slow and weak… really, I'm surprised you're not dead yet," Zod complained once Xac just completed using four septima.

Xac breathed out, "Is that… what you want, Father?"

"Don't play that card with me," Zod countered, disregarding the question. "Anyhow, you are progressing, but it's painfully slow." He then thought to himself, "If the boy is this tired using so septima, will I do any better? Is it just him and his small capacity of a body that's making him so weak to wield these septima?" Zod looked to his own pockets, the small stash of liquefied septima hidden from Xac's view. "Maybe I would be more capable? I am a grown man after all." Zod continues to debate himself until he realized Xac was calling for him. "What? I'm thinking," Zod asked, annoyed.

"Oh… was wondering if you were okay…" Xac said quietly.

Zod made an indignant sound from his lips and glared at Xac. "You have one job, and that's to take Blondie's blood. Why haven't you fulfill it?"

Xac squirmed, his thumbs twindling. "I… don't understand why you want his blood so much. Don't we already have septima similar to his?" Zod strike Xac down and he fell down on his butt. "F-Father?" Tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Don't you dare question me! Isn't it better to expand our septima powers? And it's that field of electricity he summons that I'm most interested in." Zod stopped to ponder more. "Hey. Do you ever notice Blondie shooting you with that spiteful gun of his first before shocking you? Being faced head on with the shock himself, Xac nodded. "That means were have to only disarm him and he won't be able to shock you anymore! That gun itself helps him use his electricity effectively. It's like a lightning rod." Xac looked awe from Zod's theory. "New plan! We rid Blondie of his firearms, then seize his blood!" Zod declared.

"Roger."

* * *

Copen was on the last match on the last match box he could find in the pack. The tunnel seem to stretch out long too. It wasn't like he would be lost if the match snuffed out. The tunnel went one way. He never encountered even one path that diverged from the one he has been treading on. When the match finally died, Copen continued walking. He was too far in to backtrack. Luckily, there was rations in the pack that he was able to survive from starvation. It was reluctant, but Copen was grateful for the pack once again. After what seemed like hours walking blindly in the dark, Copen started to hear something. It sounded like people talking. Copen was anxious to find out where it who it was coming from. But he stayed cautious and made sure to quiet his steps. The tunnel was beginning to also light up, proving that whoever had some kind of object to project it.

In front of him, Copen saw the area being bathed in light. He continued carefully walking toward it. Once near the area, Copen tried peering out. It was so bright that it was kind of hard to.

"Who's there?" screamed a man's voice. Copen instinctively stepped back into the dim tunnel until he stepped back out, knowing he was already seen. He finally walked into the highly lit room and his eyes adjusted. A few, no, groups of people stood staring at him. "Who might you be?"

"A lost boy?" someone whispered in the crowd.

"Were you going to raid us?" the man spoke out again. Copen figured that maybe he was some kind of group leader or something.

Copen stepped toward the people again and he could see them scrunch back. "I fell in here and decided to follow this tunnel. For days I walked down here and thought there was nothing. Now this…" Copen scanned the crowd of people and what this place was for them. A home. "Why down here?" he asked.

"There's hell out there if you haven't noticed. People seem to have lost it once that Sumeragi group disappeared," the loud man replied.

"People mug one another up there. People down here trust each enough not to do that," another one supplied. Copen admired these people. They're strong enough to hold against their own.

The man seemed to have noticed Copen's approval and he smiled a cocky grinned and crossed his arms. "I'm right proud of this place. People getting along with people like they're supposed to. But, I will admit that things will only go downhill from here if we don't find a way to get food." The people started murmuring among themselves and the man frowned as if regretting he said that. Nonetheless, it seemed a current issue that all of the people here known but didn't like it being brought up.

"Were you all planning to climb out of here someday?" Copen asked them.

"We were thinking of taking the train," the man replied, like he was glad the topic was something else. He jutted his thumb back to another dark tunnel. "Train's down there." Copen told the man to lead him to it and people started sharing glances in suspicion. "Sure," the man responded after thinking about the option himself. People spread from their paths as the man took Copen down a tunnel away from the light. Copen realized now that they were fire high up on the walls.

The tunnel was dim, but Copen could still see from the light of the main room. It wasn't that far down the tunnel when Copen could see it. It was a subway train. The engine probably ran out. "We need to work that thing up," the man explained. "Then we can ride it to EctoWav City." Hearing the word EctoWav, made Copen think of Gunvolt. How many days has it been since he split from Gunvolt? He could have made it to EctoWav about now. Copen stepped onto the subway train while the man stared after him. "Do you have any suggestions?" the man asked. Although, the tone of his voice read that he doubt Copen had any ideas.

Copen went to inspect the engine. It was dead and out of energy. Copen started tugging on some stuff. Maybe in some way, he could hotwire the stuff. The man asked what he was doing. Copen replied, "Let me try something. I'll get right back to you when I fix it."

The man laughed. "When you fix it? You're so sure, aren't you?" Copen didn't give a response. "Err, so the name's Earl." Copen said his. "Copen, eh? Well, I'll trust you if you can fix it, but don't play with the thing so much that it broke forever." Surprisingly, the man walked away. Copen thought he would keep watch of him in case he was a "raider." On the other hand, Copen was glad he had some quiet to himself.

The wires were fried up somehow, so the engine was entirely useless. Copen had to find another way to work the train. He felt around himself, looking for what he knew he needed. He pulled out a plasma gun he stole from QUILL. He didn't know what it did, but it was probably custom made for Gunvolt. Without thinking, Copen shot the gun and it static electricity flew out before fizzing out in the dark. It didn't even crash the whole. It just disappeared in the middle of the air. Copen walked toward where it disappeared and he suddenly felt paralyzed, static running through his vein. He dropped to the ground and silently groaned for some time. Moments later, Copen's numbness subsided and he stood back up.

"This thing paralyzes foes to make targets easy to attack…" Copen concluded. The volts this plasma gun held was dangerous. If he was shot fresh from the gun, Copen was sure he would have been paralyzed for longer or even possibly die. "What a dangerous toy… Just what I need." If the engine needed energy then this gun may be able to help it come to back to life. Shot a few of this into it and the train would be roaring over to EctoWav City in no time.

Copen went to tell Earl this. "Is that so?" he said, skeptical.

"I'm not saying it would work, but if it did, the train would be long gone. If you want to leave, get on the train. No one will be able to stop it once it starts up," Copen said. The man started wondering about the decision. People who were down here was content enough to have stayed down underground for some time. They all knew the train was there, but didn't start and try fixing it until recently. There was no progress until this random lone boy in white appeared and resolved everything in less than an hour.

"Fine," Earl finally decided. "Everyone onboard!" With so many people in the underground already. It took some time to get everyone packed up and in the train. They have been living down here long enough to display some personality on their personal camping spots. But the worse part came when not everyone could fit in the train. The men decided that they would stay back and the women pleaded no. Children started crying from the hectic. It was a complete mess. Copen, refusing to leave anyone behind, told the people to leave behind some of their belongings instead.

"There will be more to restock in EctoWav City," he explained as best as he can. "Throw out anything that has anything to do with food." People shared glances again, deciding if they should listen Copen. In the end, they probably got desperate and dropped the food from the train like rocks. That actually helped lessen the space in the train and the men could jump in alongside their family. Copen stood near the engine. It was lodged on the back of the train. He would have to shoot the plasma gun and quickly jump on. There was a bar he could hang onto that was on the back of the train. He would have to hang on tight when it starts.

"You're not coming, Copen?" said a voice. Copen turned to see it was Earl. He was smiling in a joking way. "Ah, thanks for the help, kid. Just like that, you resolved how to work the train."

"I'm only hoping it works," Copen said, looking back down at the engine. "I'm going to shoot. You should get on the train now."

Earl nodded in understanding. As he turned around, he said, "Your father would be so proud." Copen paused from hearing the words. It was common when someone compliments another person (especially someone young) by saying their father would be proud. Would Copen's father be proud of him? He believe it would be likely. After all, he helped these people. _May_ have helped. Copen wasn't sure this would work, but he was smart enough to know that it will and it have to.

Copen clung onto the bar and shoot. The plasma flew over the engine and it disappeared. For a moment, nothing happened. Copen almost let go of the bar and hopped down to the engine to see what was happening. But then the whole thing jolted forward. Copen caught on the bar with both hands as the train sped up from zero to 70 mph. And it seemed to still rise. Copen was afraid he won't hold on but he told himself that he had to. So he could make it to EctoWav City and save those people too.

 **To be continued...**

 **If you would like, leave a comment or review. Thanks!**


	11. Chapter 11

Most of the cities/towns Gunvolt passed looked nearly empty that he didn't stop to check them. And every time he passed by a city/town he expected Xac and his weird dad to appear. At the rate they're going, Gunvolt will make it to the city in no time. "If I made it to EctoWav and returned to QUILL HQ, what will happen after that?" Gunvolt asked himself. He wondered about Xac and Copen. If he will ever resolve the problems Xac have and if he will ever meet Copen again.

His interest in Xac was confusing. The kid barely showed any signs of holding back to kill Gunvolt, yet there was also that little bit of lost sense in him. As Gunvolt ran, he could hear the soft singing of Joule by his side. Maybe it was because Xac somehow reminded Gunvolt of Joule that he felt bad for him. But it's hard to learn about someone when they're not willing to give you information.

Gunvolt reached another city with skybridges everywhere connecting buildings. In the skybridges, he could spot people cooping themselves up in comfortable spots. "Whoa. The last time I saw people was back near HQ," Gunvolt said among himself.

Joule appeared in response of Gunvolt's comment. "You have to admit this looks like a pretty cozy place. Maybe the people here aren't as savage as the other?"

"Like mutual understanding? I'm not going to stick around and wait until they're pulling at me to find out." Gunvolt was going to bolt out of this city when a skybridge in the distance broke off. He could hear people screaming and, using the excessive septima energy from Joule, flew toward them. Gunvolt didn't know what to do, honestly. The people were trapped inside the skybridge, and it wasn't like he could stop them from impacting the ground. Unless he wanted to squish under like a bug.

There was no need for Gunvolt to stop the falling skybridge because something else stopped it. Xac and his dad. Finally they have shown themselves. Xac was softening the fall of the skybridge with his magnetic energy. It landed with barely a thud. "So glad you could make it, Blondie," the mad scientist said cockly.

"Blondie? It's Gunvolt," Gunvolt corrected him. Zod shrugged his shoulders like he didn't care.

"Eh. Zod," he introduced himself freely. For a moment, it was almost funny the two didn't really get to know each other's name until now. But times when met didn't gave them the opportunity to introduce. There were more dire matters than knowing what to call the other to face. The feeling blew over quickly as it came, though.

Gunvolt begun questioning first. "What do you want? I remember Xac mentioning something about my blood. Uh, you thirsty?"

Zod looked up in exaggerated wonder. "You know what, it was, but not anymore," he answered.

"It's not?" Both Gunvolt and Xac said at the same time.

"Let me rephrase. It is, but I'm starting to just want you dead, too," Zod responded, a distorted grin followed after. "Xac, transform!" Zod raised his hand in the air to signal for Xac's transformation. He was still staring up at his father as if he didn't heard at first. Zod impatiently cleared his throat and Xac flinched back into the moment. He transformed. His color glowed red this time. There was a shield as one arm and a javelin as the other. His legs were turned into wheels.

"A shield?" Gunvolt said, confused from where it came. "Is it Copen's, but remade into his body?"

Zod stepped back. "There's no other choice now. You two will have to fight." A wormhole appeared behind him and he walked backwards into it.

"Fine by me. I want to speak to Xac anyway," Gunvolt said to the empty space where Zod have gone.

"So persistent. I'll tell you nothing," Xac declared.

"That so?" Gunvolt dashed forward. "A cap can't stay stuck forever. Soon, it will pop off." Xac wheeled forward, holding his javelin ready. He thrust it forward once Gunvolt was near, but he jumped over it. Gunvolt landed behind Xac and he pivoted himself around to tag him. Xac gave a heard u-turn and held up his shield. The bullets bounced off. "Gack. Really?" Xac once again charged at Gunvolt, but with his shield up this time. "I'll just have to be quick to tag him," Gunvolt thought and tried to jump over Xac again. But Xac held up his javelin arm and swung it overhead to cut off Gunvolt's dodge. He fell back in front of Xac and collided with the shield in his face. Gunvolt went skidding and Xac was going to wheel him over when he used Joule's septima to fly out of the way.

"He's going to be defensive. Try to find a way to penetrate that shield of his," Joule told Gunvolt. Gunvolt quickly scanned the city for an electrical source he could charge up from. His head screamed "bingo" when he saw an arcade at the distance. Gunvolt believed at first that Xac wouldn't be able to reach him in the air, but he seperated his atoms to reform slightly above Gunvolt. He swung his javelin and Gunvolt blocked it with his Cerberus. The tip of the javelin was pointed right at Gunvolt. It was unexpected when lightning shot out of the tip and strike Gunvolt down. Gunvolt dropped from the air, but caught on before he could crash.

Gunvolt lookd up to the sky and saw that Xac disappeared. Knowing that the kid likes attacking from behind, he turned around just as Xac appeared and kicked him in the nose. He then jumped back and tagged Xac, Flashfielding him too. Xac grunted, but getting shock didn't stop him fom raising his javelin at Gunvolt. From the tip, fireballs started spewing out. Gunvolt ran from them while still holding up his Flashfield. "You really think... you could run?!" Xac mustered. Xac rolled toward Gunvolt and he prepared to dodge, but he dissipated. Gunvolt turned around again, expecting Xac to be behind him again. But he appeared right beside Gunvolt and gave a swing of his javelin. Gunvolt grunted from the cut, but quickly recovered to smash his gun against Xac's face. Xac separated his atoms again and appeared behing Gunvolt, giving him another cut. This happened a few more times.

Done with the disappearing and sneak attacking, Gunvolt dashed out from there and resume heading for the arcade. "Running are we?" Gunvolt heard Xac's voice echo. "You know you can't run."

"Then that means I could hide," Gunvolt responded and hid behind a building. He didn't notice he was near a bunch of junkies, too. They stared up at Gunvolt with wide eyes. Gunvolt was peering over the corner, watching for Xac.

"You can't hide, too," Xac said and appeared beside Gunvolt and the junkies. Xac's javelin seared in heat before he spiked it into the floor and a plume of fire blasted from below Gunvolt. The junkies caught on with what was happening and ran for it. Javelin still hot, Xac sliced at the geyser of fire and it disappeared. Xac expected Gunvolt to be crumpled up on the floor, with a bloody gash and 3rd degree burn, but he was nowhere. Xac looked feverishly around for Gunvolt. Instead, he spotted something near his face. It looked like a weird small machine. Suddenly, it blasted bullets around it. Xac was hit . He felt himself get tagged twice. After a bit, Xac felt himself get hit the final third time from somewhere above him. He looked to see Gunvolt standing on the building above him before he felt the shock of Gunvolt's Flashfield.

After Gunvollt released his Flashfield, he jumped from building to building to reach the arcade. His conductivity to Xac disappeared, signaling they were too far apart. That, or Xac was going to reappear somewhere around him again. A pillar of fire shot up in front of Gunvolt's path. He stopped, and sidestep to get pass the pillar, but another one popped up. Then another one. Pillars of fire shot up until Gunvolt was surrounded. He had no where to go. Except above. Gunvolt took flight, and the pillars starting closing in on him. The pillars seem to go on forever. Maybe it did. Gunvolt hadn't realize that, and the fire pillars finally closed in.

Just like when Xac summoned a fire pillar under him before, Gunvolt used his Chargeguard Pendant and got out from the closed space. But it wasn't over as the pillars gave off a little heat of explosion that Gunvolt tumbled back to the floor. Luckily, he landed near the arcade and blast the door aside to get in. The place was dark since nobody was playing it. Of course, nobody would in this time of anarchy. Gunvolt pulled the wires out of one arcade machine. All of these machines are connected to one single thing and that's the electricity that would have run this place. But there was the possibility that the electricity source was cut off and destroyed. Although, that wouldn't be the case considering this city was more well kept than most Gunvolt passed.

He felt it. Gunvolt felt the electricity run through his blood. He was surprised Xac haven't attacked yet. The jinx summoned him and he plowed right into the arcade. Gunvolt didn't mean to hide, but he was a bit obscured from Xac's line of vision. Gunvolt saw Xac look around frantically, eyes filled with rage but with that tint of lost. The way he gritted his teeth as if ready to cuss out reminded Gunvolt of Viper. While Gunvolt stood by charging, he observed Xac closely. The boy seemed interested in the machines in front of him. He slowly rolled to the other side of the arcade looking at the machine. Xac's face was no longer pinched in anger and battle determination. Instead, it was filled with sentiment and wonder.

"Did he once played arcade games?" Gunvolt thought to himself. Then he remembered Xac mentioning about how he was left abandoned before Zod adopted him. "No... probably wanted to, but couldn't." Gunvolt felt himself full charged. He let go of the wires but continued to stare at Xac. While he was a child for not listening to Gunvolt's reasons, he was truly being a child now, having the desire to play games.

Gunvolt planted both his legs firmly to the ground. "Xac," he said aloud to across the room. Gunvolt saw him flinch and he turned around quickly, his eyes and face back into battle mode. It looked as if he was about to charge at Gunvolt again, but saw an arcade machine in the way and stopped. "Do you want to play?" Xac stared at Gunvolt almost questionably. "Games?" Gunvolt clarified. Xac realized what he meant, but gave no answer. He looked to the floor's instead. "You have to trust your own morales... I'm not good at saying it, but there's no way in actual heck you think your father is doing good, right?"

Xac actually answered than resumed battling. "What are you talking about? Father's going to help these people. He's going to lead them. He's going to be the next government..."

"Himself?" Xac nodded begrudgingly in response. "Uh-huh. And that's going to work out?" Xac was going to lash out at Gunvolt, but he cut him off to continue talking. "When I said there's no way that you think he's doing good, I mean you. What are you, his guinea pig? Septima isn't a toy you could just play with."

Xac shrugged, his javelin up and scraping at the ceiling. "I'm just that good."

"Oh yeah? So you haven't been tired once?" Xac's expression change and Gunvolt knew he hit the mark.

"Wh-who doesn't get tired from using their septima?" Xac countered. "Any-"

"You didn't answer my first question. You know your father isn't doing good, right? If he has the screws to change you, what do you think he could do to swarms of people?" Xac stayed silent. "You would have to be masochistic to like being used as a thing."

Xac flared from Gunvolt's words. "So what if I'm hurt? We need septima to hold the people down. Otherwise, they wouldn't listen to us."

Gunvolt shook his head. Xac's arguments were so lackluster that anyone could counter back. "There's this thing called charisma. Don't know if you ever heard it, but it's when others listen to you because people like you. Make people like you. Not fear you. That's what your father is going to drive into the heart of others."

"I don't understand why you hate Father so much!" Xac exclaimed. In the end, he charged straight through the arcade machine toward Gunvolt.

Gunvolt sighed. The kid was either lying to himself or was too dense. "I don't understand why you're so attached to him." Gunvolt jumped out of the way while shooting at Xac. He brought his shield around and blocked off the bullets. His javelin searing hot again, he shot fire balls at Gunvolt. Gunvolt used the arcade machines as shields before he retreated out of the arcade.

"Where are you going now?" Xac screamed after Gunvolt and reappeared in front of him. He abruptly rolled forward and slam his shield at Gunvolt. He lie on the floor, dizzy and momentarily stunned. The shield Xac just hit Gunvolt with fizzed with electricity. Xac pointed to tip to Gunvolt and summoned what first appeared to be a small vortex. The vortex became a fire tornado, with lighting running around it. "Nice knowing you," Xac said simply. The tornado raged while the inside of it was filled with lightning to occupy Gunvolt.

Gunvolt cursed. "I-I was going to do this, but..." Gunvolt focused his electricty to the air beside his right hand. A giant white broadsword started to appear. As the tornado closed in for sufficating and the lightning got ferocious, Gunvolt gritted his teeth until his special weapon appeared. His Luxcalibur. The blade looked regular sized until it's creation was complete and Gunvolt wrapped his fingers around it.

Xac was outside observing the fire/lighting show. Confident that Gunvolt was good as dead, he relaxed. Not until he felt a dangerous tingling. It was like a sense. It was the same sense he had when detecting Gunvolt's presence from afar. Now it felt overwhelming. Xac stared into the fire tornado to see what was happening to Gunvolt within. But it was sliced up. Once the tornado was in pieces, it disappeared. With the fire tornado out of the way, he sped up to Xac, grabbed his blade with both hands, and swung it at Xac. Xac impulsively tried blocking the attack with both his shield and javelin crossed, but it didn't work. Luxcalibur sliced through the weapons and hit right on Xac.

"Sacred sword agleam,

Barbarous and bathed in blue,

Cleaving right from wrong,

Luxcalibur!"

Once the blade contacted Xac, there was an explosion (as directed by Michael Bay). When the scene cleared of smoke, Xac was still alive. Of course, it was because Gunvolt held back. Xac lost his form and was back to his normal self. Luxcalibur disappeared, and Gunvolt knelt down to Xac. "Next time you see your father," Gunvolt whispered. "Look to see if he treats you good. Then you'll see if you're doing any better by listening to him." Gunvolt was hoping Xac was at least a bit conscious and heard him. If not, he'll have to tell him again later. Obviously, Gunvolt wasn't going to wait around, despite him being hurt and deeply tired. He wanted to give Xac some space to think, and hope he had a reasonable answer the next time they meet.

Gunvolt turned to walk away from Xac, but as he did, something shot and stuck to his chest. He looked down to see it as a dart. Then he started getting dizzy and the tiredness finally took him under.

 **To be continued...**


	12. Chapter 12

When Gunvolt came to, he realized he wasn't even tied up. The sky was dark meaning he was out for so long. He started getting up, but the dizzy spells hit again. "Are you alright, Gunvolt?" Joule asked as he wavered.

"Fine enough to gain consciousness," Gunvolt answered.

Joule gave moments of silence before saying, "What do you think happened?"

Gunvolt looked around him, recollecting his thoughts. He was in this city... fighting Xac. He darted his eyes to where he last saw Xac lie. He was gone. "Of course. That lunatic came to pick up his kid," Gunvolt said. "And he gave me a nap in the process." Gunvolt knew what Zod did while he was asleep. He probably stole some of his blood. Joule concluded the same thing. "Now that he's satisfied, will he finally leave us alone?" Joule gave no response. Gunvolt didn't know why he even said that himself. If the two decided to leave them alone now, Gunvolt was going to turn the tables.

"You don't want to leave Xac alone, do you?" Joule asked. Gunbolt stayed motionless until giving a firm nod. Joule giggled. "Really? You're kind of making me jealous. This boy's gotten your attention of late."

Gunvolt chuckled himself. "I think it's strange, too. But the thing is... he reminds me of you, Joule."

"Oh?" Joule replied. He could feel her giving something like a raised eyebrow.

"He's only a kid. He doesn't know his septima is being used for, y'know, the bad," Gunvolt explained. Joule giggled again, but the air she gave off was something like an encouraging smile. Gunvolt decided to leave the city despite it being night. He was determined to get things straight from Xac. Hopefully the boy heard what Gunvolt said before he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Earlier in the day after retrieving Gunvolt's blood, Zod conjured the septima fluid and inject it inside of Xac. He gritted his teeth in pain, but other than that, there wasn't a sound that escaped his mouth. Once all of the fluid disappeared within Xac, Zod took the syringe out from him. "How do you feel?" Xac stayed silent, still processing the septima in his blood. "Well?" Zod asked again, impatient.

"I'm... fine," Xac answered and stood up slowly. Zod backed up as he did. Out of range, Xac tried using a Flashfield. The area around him became thick but nothing came up. He tried again until there was small sights of static seen. "Ugh, sorry..." Xac said and fell to his hands and knees. "I'm tired."

"Of course you are," Zod sighed in disappointment. "Why don't you rest then?" Zod plastered a creepy smile to his face. "You 'deserved' it." Xac stared at Zod's face longer than he have ever done before. Usually when Zod told Xac to do whatever, he did it almost abruptly. But this time, he continued to scrutinize. "Next time... see if he treats you good... see if you're doing any better..." was the words Xac faintly picked up from Gunvolt. Annoyed from Xac's prolonged staring, Zod marched up to him and asked harshly, "Is there something on my face? Get to sleep!" Xac jolted back to the present, and nodded weakly before laying his head to the ground. "Make sure to wake up when I tell you to," Zod lastly said before Xac drifted off.

It didn't seem long before Zod shook Xac awake, but it was dusk. Zod declared he had a plan. He tapped in emphasis at the map he had in his hand as he told Xac. "See this here? EctoWav City. I remember hearing it was a boisterous city filled with a high population and people. If we are to start reigning, it should be there." Zod didn't really think about where to go before. He just wanted to move forward like most people during this time. But after encountering Gunvolt and retrieving his blood, Zod had time to think where to start. EctoWav City was the most ideal. "Do you think that maybe you could teleport us there." It was more of an order than a question.

"I-I could try, but we might get lost if I mess up," Xac replied nervously.

"The map. Look. At. The. Map," Zod told Xac and shoved the map to his face. "We're some kilo from it. Just warp us north. It's not too hard now is it?"

"Y-yes, Father." Xac pulled the map away from his face. "I'll try." Xac did and he succeeded... but only the warping. Not so much on the distance. Zod pestered him to warp again. Xac did it again, but the distance forward was shorter this time. Then he prompted Xac to carry him, using the strength septima. Xac picked up Zod.

Pointing ahead, Zod next told Xac, "Now run. Use the speed of Gunbolt!"

"It's Gun _volt_..." Xac mumbled. He was surprised he said it, and Zod glared at him. He punished the boy by smacking him in the noggin.

"Run." Xac held Xod tightly and ran. The suddenness of the speed made Xac kind of tripped over himself. From falling over, he lost grasp from Zod and the man rolled away from his arms. "What... what the hell?" Zod exclaimed and stood up. He gasped when he checked over himself. "Bruises!" He glared at Xac next. "What are you trying to do? Get back at me?" Xac shrunk back with his arms raised in defense. He expected for Zod to walk over to him and start hitting him, but Zod paced back and forth instead. His eyes were wide, and he was grinning while whispering loudly to himself, "It's fine, it's fine. Just a little while more, just a little while more..." Xac was confused on what he was saying. If his father was trying to comfort him, he was failing. Not that he succeeded much before.

Zod barely spoke when he walked over to Xac. He waited for the boy to pick him up and Xac did. He started running again and this time got the hang of it. Xac didn't know what was up with his wormhole septima. Maybe it ran dry for this bit. It seems their only way of transportation for now was by foot. Xac ran and ran until it get dark to really see anything. The whole time there was just silence. Xac thought Zod fell asleep in his arm, but then he told Xac to stop. Xac slowed down to a halt and Zod jumped off from his arms. He lie down on the ground, saying nothing to Xac. It must be sleeping time. The area around them was bare, so there wasn't really anything for them to obscure themselves. That's a problem if they don't want Gunvolt to spot them.

Having some time to actually do some thinking, Xac thought back to what he somehow heard Gunvolt said. He was surprised he was able to catch on to words before fainting. That blade that was in Gunvolt's hands looked powerful enough to sunder him. Yet, he was still alive. Was it possible Gunvolt didn't use his full power on that attack? Too many times he gave Xac chances to live. Someone that does that... what is it called? Zod rolled over and Xac tensed, thinking he was awake. But when he gave a snore, Xac relaxed.

Back to his thoughts, Xac was grateful for Zod. He took him in, or more like, allowed. Xac desperately wanted someone to accept him, to notice him. So when Zod's the first, he was instantly attached. At first, Zod seemed like a nice guy, feeding him when he was hungry, and buying him stuff he wanted. But after Sumeragi fell, Zod seemed to have gone mad. He was harsh to Xac almost all the time. Xac thought it was just a phase, but Zod grew crueler throughout the days, his fatherly ways gone.

Food was scarce when the anarchy happened. Even though it was about just a month Sumeragi fell, everything seem to have disappeared. It was one man for himself. Because of the scarce food, Zod wouldn't be able to keep feeding Xac which he could understand. Buying things was the same thing as food. There wasn't anything to buy other than salvage or stole it. But while Zod had treated Xac so well, he never actually bonded with him. Xac realized that and tried harder to remember when Zod and him hung out doing something together. There was none. Only that Zod would leave Xac food and retreat to the basement after. The only time they were together would be when they went out shopping, but that's when they were buying a new toy for Xac to play with. Once the toy was bought and they came home, Zod would once again retreated to the basement.

One time, Xac tried sneaking in the basement to see what was in there, but he was caught. He had a beating that day and that was probably when Xac started fearing his father. Fearing? Xac wondered about that. Even if his father hit him that time, that doesn't mean he should be scared of him. But just thinking about that first beating and the other ones he often felt now made Xac pondered if he is doing what his father wants out of fear. Xac told himself he deserved to be beaten for trying to sneak into the basement. Zod took him in, so he should be considerate to let him have his privacy. Although, while it was reasonable for Zod to beat him back then, the beating he got these days were just out of frustration. There seemed to be no reason other than Xac not doing what he was told.

Xac's head was starting to get dizzy. In it, he have been switching back and forth, wondering if what's he getting beaten and yelled at was his fault or not. He's not thinking that it's his father's fault instead, but he was thinking that he shouldn't get punished for everything. Xac started getting tired from the thinking in his head, and he reverted back to the theory of if Zod took him in, he should respect and do as he was told. Taking care of another person is a big responsibility. So there shouldn't be any complaints. A person has to be good if they are willing to take in another.

* * *

Demented thinking aside…

Gunvolt reached another city that stank of gambling. Or once. Lights flashed on and off from signs left abandoned. Gunvolt held on to one of the blinking neon lights and crushed it to absorb its electricity. It was becoming predictable that Xac and his father, Zod, will come and attack. Even as Gunvolt ventured throughout the town for no apparent reason than to wait for the two to ambush, he could see people still smoking in depression and gambling. "Addiction is still hitting hard even at this time," Gunvolt stated.

"Well, old habits die hard. That, or they just want to slowly ease out from this world," Joule brought up and Gunvolt shrugged. Gunvolt looked to the sky and saw the combination of orange and purple in the horizon. It was dusk. He was wondering if he should go ahead and rest or wait until the two began their assault. "Need me to sing a lullaby for you? You need some rest," Joule said.

"Lullaby or not, I'm not that nervous that I can't fall asleep," Gunvolt replied and sat down at a street corner. Any strangers that dared get near would suffer the consequences. Gunvolt didn't necessarily went off to dreamland. He rested his head and thought ways on how to make Xac leave the weirdo and become a normal kid again. But the term "normal" can't define him anymore since he experienced septima. In better definition, it's like his life is changed forever. Gunvolt believed there is hope to changing someone's will if a chance was given to them. But if pestering that chance over and over doesn't change them then they may never change. As much as Gunvolt want to spare the kid, if he wants to kill Gunvolt for the sake of Zod, then he won't hold back to kill either. Xac is considered an accomplice for continuing to work with his so-called father.

Gunvolt didn't notice it, but he fell asleep. He only realized it when a loud sound swept across the whole town and he snapping his eyes opened. Gunvolt jumped from where he was sitting down before, just in time too, to dodge a fissure that split the ground beneath him. He stood on top of a building, and saw the heads of Zod and Xac. Xac was in a different form of course. Gamblers and smokers from around barely moved from their spots, probably thinking it was nothing big. Gunvolt leaped off the building and landed in front of Xac and Zod. Zod was grinning his usually psychotic smile and Xac stood nearby with hues of different colors around him. There seem to be blue, green, red, and brown in the mix.

Zod pointed a crooked finger at Gunvolt, "Kill him," he simply ordered and Xac lunged the instant the words left his lips. A spear appeared in Xac's hand and he swung it horizontally at Gunvolt. Gunvolt block the attack with his Cerberus and they stood together in a standstill.

"Well?" Gunvolt said in a questioning tone. Xac stayed silent, his expression unreadable. Gunvolt sighed in disappointment. "So he treats you like jitt and you're still siding with him?" Gunvolt grunted and duck under from the swipe to trip Xac up. He fell back, but a wormhole recovered him above Gunvolt. He shot fireballs from his hand and Gunvolt ran to dodge them. While he ran, Gunvolt shot gunshots to tag Xac, but the boy simply swiped at the bullets and they disappeared. Next, he materialized behind Gunvolt and jabbed his right shoulder with a javelin that replaced his spear. Gunvolt gasped and dropped his Cerberus in response. He opened up his Flashfield to scare Xac away and he disappeared into a wormhole.

When Xac next appeared. He was in front of Gunvolt. He held out his hand and blue light started to emit from his body. Gunvolt felt his septima coursing through his body and the soft murmuring of Joule's voice. The pain on his shoulder seem to disappear along with his wound. He bent down to pick his Cerberus up, but Xac hit it away with a lightning attack. Gunvolt chuckled in spit and pulled out his Naga. Xac was back to emitting blue color and Gunvolt started to charge his Naga himself. Whatever Xac was preparing for, Gunvolt partly wanted to stop him and partly wanted to see what he was going to do. The latter sounded interesting.

 **To be continued…**


End file.
